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Dr. Boyce Watkins

 Progress made, negotiations still underway, but national leadership should have done much more to support prisoners 

By Boyce Watkins, PhD on Dec 18th 2010 6:12PM

http://www.bvblackspin.com/2010/12/18/georgia-prison-strike-comes-to-an-end-but-its-not-over-yet/

The heroic prison strike that took place in Georgia this month has finally come to an end. Other than the inmates who are still holding out, most of the others have been released from the massive lock down and agreed to go back to work. Progress was made during the strike, and negotiations are still underway.

GA prisoners of all races pray together at Calhoun State Prison

I was scheduled to meet with Elaine Brown, one of the leaders of the movement last night. For some reason, we weren’t able to find her. But I’m sure that whatever she was doing was more important than talking to me. Tomorrow morning I’ll be speaking with Rev. Jesse Jackson on the matter, and then Monday, I speak with Rev. Al Sharpton. In fact, I’ll be speaking to everyone I know about this issue for as long as I possibly can.

One of the things that I believe, and I’m sure Elaine agrees, is that the strike was a significant step in getting the public to recognize the urgent need to reform our criminal justice system. It’s important for people to realize that supporting the human rights of prison inmates is not a matter of being soft on crime. Instead, it’s a matter of being intelligent about how systems operate so that those who are willing to rehabilitate themselves can return to their communities in a productive capacity. We cannot afford to keep throwing away every black child who makes a mistake.

Even though reports are stating that the strike is effectively over, the momentum created by the activities of these inmates cannot be understated. By coming together in such an amazing way, the individuals in the Georgia State correctional system have made a strong statement for human rights around the world. They have also taught us a few things about America, the prison system and ourselves. Here are a few lessons to ponder:

1) Prison inmates are not dumb and worthless human beings: The same brilliance that it took for the Georgia inmates to coordinate their protest, write public statements and become conscious of their human rights can be applied to nearly anything they try to do. Our society has been trained to believe that anyone who breaks the law is somehow worthless to society, but if that’s the case, then we can say the same thing about Oprah Winfrey, Martha Stewart, Martin Luther King and even Jesus. The truth is that while there are certainly inmates who deserve to be punished, the punishment should not be for life for most of the individuals who are convicted. By marginalizing prison inmates and not creating opportunities for them to add to our society, we are only throwing away potentially productive human capital and destroying families, making the problem worse and more expensive over time.

2) Prisons should be used to rehabilitate, not to make our society worse than it is: I’ve never understood the mindset of those who don’t feel that prison inmates deserve access to an education. Do you really want an uneducated, unemployed ex-convict living in your neighborhood or raising children who attend school with your child? I thought not. Giving inmates access to quality education gives them a choice of returning to a life of crime or doing something better. I can tell you with all sincerity that if I had no education, no job and no way of providing for my family, I’d be willing to consider all alternatives to get my children what they need. Instead, a little opportunity and divine intervention turned me into a college professor instead of a menace to society.

3) There should be additional oversight in the prison system: Prisons are like universities in that they are given the ability to operate without sufficient checks and balances on their behavior. As a result, many universities are among the last bastions of serious segregation in our society (my business school at Syracuse didn’t grant tenure to an African American in any department in over 100 years of existence), and prisons are also allowed to consistently violate the human rights of their inmates. As much as the United States criticizes nations like China for their human rights violations, consider this: China has only 3/4 as many of its citizens in prison relative to the United States (2.1 million to 1.6 million), and they have a population that is four times greater than our own. When it comes to violating the human rights of minorities and the poor, the United States has become a global leader.

4) The black community is being destroyed by our prisons: Nearly every black person I know has been affected by the prison system in one way or the other. If you haven’t been in the criminal justice system, you probably have a parent, brother or cousin who has. If that’s not the case, then you’ve possibly mentored or helped raise a child whose parent was incarcerated. Out of the 1.8 million African American men that live in the United States, nearly 200,000 of them are in state or federal prison, or in a local jail. According to a 2003 report by the Bureau of Justice Statistics, 32 percent of black males born in the year 2001 can expect to spend time in state or federal prison during their lifetime. This means that the little boy you’re raising right now has a prison bed already made out for him. Your daughter is going to try to find a husband and end up meeting several men who have interacted with this system. Therefore, it is not only in our incentive to teach our kids how to avoid these systems, we must also confront the systems themselves so that making a mistake at an early age does not lead to a death sentence on an individual’s entire future.

5) Black politicians and public figures must get involved: I wrote an article recently about how the Congressional Black Caucus was as quiet as a church mouse during the Georgia prison strike. While I get quite a few statements about the fabulous work they are doing for the Hispanic community (i.e. the DREAM Act), the war in Afghanistan, and much more, I don’t see much in terms of fighting for the human rights of prison inmates. I’d love to see black politicians stop acting as if ex-convicts are sub-human individuals who deserve to be raped and beaten, and start realizing that many of them (not all) are fractured souls who made bad choices at an early age. Also, as much as rappers love to bust rhymes about selling dope, going to prison and getting shot, leading hip hop artists should be issuing statements in support of the Georgia prison protest and offering to help.

Actor Wesley Snipes, imprisoned for political resistance to tax system

One of the reasons that the Nazis were able to execute so many Jews was because the good-hearted members of society were convinced that those being exterminated deserved their fates. By separating people into the “us” and “them” groups, the powers that be are able to slowly but surely eat away at civil liberties for us all. When Jesus was thrust upon the cross, many mistook legality for morality to believe that he must have been doing something wrong because he was being punished. But we must understand that applying the arbitrary label of “convict” onto someone does not imply that we have the right to disrespect ourselves, our society and our freedom by making that person into a slave. In fact, most of us are not as far away from this system as we’d like to believe, just ask Wesley Snipes.

Bradley Manning

Soldier in solitary confinement indefinitely, accused of aiding Wikileaks

By Dr. Publico

The American Tribune

The ideal version of justice is that, before the law, a person is innocent until proven guilty.  But for those of us who have any jail and prison experience, the reality is quite different. 

The current experience of Bradley Manning puts the lie to that idealism and, indeed, reveals the neo-liberals as little more than political stooges (or otherwise ineffectual before conservative corporate power). 

Bradley is the 22-yr-old soldier who is accused–but not charged–with supplying WikiLeaks with the secret documents being distributed around the world. 

He spent two months in a military jail in Kuwait, and has now been in the infamous Marine brig in Quantico, VA, for the past five months under extraordinary conditions. 

The fundamental concept of  innocent until proven guilty predates even the American republic and the US Constitution.  It comes to us from English jurisprudence and is considered as bedrock common law. 

The Constitution codifies the concept implicitly through several provisions, including the “right to remain silent,” and “the right to a jury.” 

 Jails in the US are used essentially for three basic reasons.  1. To hold persons deemed to be a direct predatory threat to the public, 2. to hold persons who are unable to raise their bail, and 3. to serve as prisons for those sentenced to terms under a year. 

However, again, reality intrudes.  Jails in fact are also used as the coercive means to induce “cooperation” with one’s prosecution and/or the prosecution of others.  Many of us, including myself, have had that experience. 

According to a Marine brig officer, Lt. Brian Villiard, Bradley Manning is confined in solitary for 23 hours a day, barred from exercising (and under 24-hour direct surveillance), denied a pillow or sheets, and denied any news. 

 As one who has undergone such experiences (albeit, not for that length of time), and as a doctor of psychology (PsyD), I’ll cite the Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law (JAAPL), “…psychological stressors such as isolation can be as clinically distressing as physical torture.” 

From a psych standpoint, the denial of exercise (being forbidden in your cell from pushups, knee-bends, etc.) is to enhance the effects of torture (i.e., the denial of sublimation).  Other than as punishment (for what? he’s been a model prisoner), it serves no other purpose. 

Given the young age of Manning, his imprisonment by Marine brig personnel, the open-ended commitment without charge, and the excessive conditions of his confinement, it should be expected that his condition is deteriorating, which Lt. Villiard admits.  Bradley is being given anti-depressants by medical personnel. 

Whatever the crimes that Manning may become charged with, clearly there is already a crime being committed:  All those who impose these conditions, along with all those in the chain-of-command, are criminals themselves and should be so charged, up to and including the Commander-in-Chief.  Let them argue the Constitutional merits… 

 Small wonder that, instead of pursuing the prosecution of the war criminals from the previous Administration, Obama & Co., are further incorporating those crimes into the current one. 

Under the conditions of Manning’s confinement, anything he may say is the fruit of torture and not worth warm spit…

To hear radio interview with Elaine Brown on Democracy NOW! go to

http://www.democracynow.org/seo/2010/12/14/prisoner_advocate_elaine_brown_on_georgia

To hear radio interview between Glen Ford, Elaine Brown and striking prisoner, go to

http://www.blackagendareport.com/?q=georgia_prison_strike_interview_update_dec15)

Bruce Dixon

Wed, 12/15/2010 – 04:50 — The Editors, Black Agenda Report

Georgia prisoners who began a courageous, peaceful and nonviolent protest strike for educational opportunities, wages for their work, medical care and human rights have captured the attention of the world. Black Agenda Report intends to closely cover their continuing story. Glen Ford recorded a conversation with activist Elaine Brown and one of the striking inmates in Georgia on Wednesday, December 15.

Story by Bruce A. Dixon, audio interview by Glen Ford

The historic strike of Georgia prisoners, demanding wages for their labor, educational opportunities, adequate health care and nutrition, and better conditions is entering a new phase. Strikers remain firm in their demands for full human rights, though after several days many have emerged from their cells, if only to take hot showers and hot food. Many of these, however, are still refusing their involuntary and unpaid work assignments.

A group that includes relatives, friends and a broad range of supporters of the prisoners on the outside has emerged. They are seeking to sit down with Georgia correctional officials this week to discuss how some of the just demands of inmates can begin to be implemented. Initially, Georgia-based representatives of this coalition supporting the prisoner demands included the Georgia NAACP, the Nation of Islam, the National Association for Radical Prison Reform, the Green Party of Georgia, and the Ordinary Peoples Society among others. Civil rights attorneys, ministers, community organizations and other prisoner advocates are also joining the group which calls itself the Concerned Coalition to Protect Prisoner Rights.

Prisoners have stood up for themselves, and the communities they came from are lining up to support them. Today, at a groundbreaking for a private prison 300 miles southeast of Atlanta in Millen GA, residents of that local community opposed to the private prison are greeting the governor and corrections brass with a protest. They will be joined by dozens more coming in from Atlanta who will respectfully urge state authorities to talk to the prisoners. We understand that one person there has been arrested. Black Agenda Report will have photos and footage of that event on Thursday.

The broad-based Concerned Coalition to Protect Prisoners Rights fully supports the heroic stand of Georgia’s prisoners. “This isn’t Attica,” one representative of the coalition explained. “No violent acts have been committed by any of the inmates involved. We hope state corrections officials will be as peaceful and respectful as the prisoners have been, and start a good faith dialog about quickly addressing their concerns.”

Prisoners in Georgia are conducting a peaceful protest; their supporters are calling on authorities not to turn it into another Attica Rebellion, during which law enforcement officials murdered and tortured hundreds of prisoners, including guards inside the complex; Attica was a symbol of resistance for a generation of prison activists.

Right now, the ball is in the hands of state corrections officials, and reports are that in some of the affected prisons, authorities are fumbling that ball, engaging

“They transferred some of the high Muslims here to max already,” one prisoner told Black Agenda Report this morning. “They want to break up the unity we have here. We have the Crips and the Bloods, we have the Muslims, we have the head Mexicans, and we have the Aryans all with a peaceful understanding, all on common ground. We all want to be paid for our work, and we all want education in here. There’s people in here who can’t even read…

“They’re trying to provoke people to violence in here, but we’re not letting that happen. We just want our human rights.”

The transfers are intended to deprive groups of leadership and demoralize them. In some cases they may be having the opposite effect, stiffening prisoner morale and making room for still more leaders to emerge.

“The prisoners insist that punitive transfers are an act of bad faith, the opposite of what we should be doing,” said Minister Charles Muhammad, of the Nation of Islam in Atlanta. “The coalition supports them and demands no punitive transfers, either within or between institutions, and absolutely no transfers to institutions outside Georgia.”

Members of the public should continue to call the prisons listed below, and the GA Department of Corrections and the office of Georgia’s governor, Sonny Perdue. Ask them firmly but respectfully to resolve the situation non-violently and without punitive measures. Tell them you believe prisoners deserve wages for work and education. Ask them to talk to prisoners and the communities they come from.

It’s simple. With one in twelve Georgia adults in jail or prison, parole or probation or other court and correctional supervision, prisoners are us. They are our families. They are our fathers and our mothers, our sons and daughters, our nieces and nephews and aunts and uncles and cousins. Most prisoners will be back out in society sooner, not later. It’s time for us all to grow up and realize that warehousing, malnourishing, mistreating and abusing prisoners does not make us safer. Denying prisoners meaningful training and educational opportunities, and forcing them to work for no wages is not the way to do.

It’s time to fundamentally reconsider prison as we know it, and America’s public policy of mass incarceration.

Bruce Dixon and Glen Ford are reachable at bruce.dixon@blackagendareport.com and glen.ford@blackagendareport.com, respectively. Black Agenda Report intends to provide ongoing coverage several times per week of the ongoing struggle of Georgia prisoners.

To read “Lockdown for Liberty,” the article on the prison strike by Charlene Muhammad in The Final Call, the Nation of Islam’s national newspaper, go to http://www.finalcall.com/artman/publish/National_News_2/article_7498.shtml.

People who had lost their homes to foreclosure, or have been battling banks over loan modification, and their supporters, including Alvivon Hurt, protest outside a Chase bank branch in downtown LA Dec. 16. Police arrested 22 protesters who blocked the doors to the bank in acts of civil disobedience. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon)

By JACOB ADELMAN, AP

Posted 12/16/2010 Silicon Valley Mercury News.com

LOS ANGELES—Police arrested 22 demonstrators who blocked entry to a downtown Chase bank branch Thursday to protest what they said were unfair home foreclosures.

The demonstrators, which included homeowners facing foreclosure, community advocates and labor leaders, silently allowed officers to bind their wrists behind their backs with plastic restraints and guide them into a police van.

Sitting in a makeshift living room, people who had lost their homes to foreclosure, or have been battling banks over loan modification, and their supporters, pray as they protest outside Chase in LA Dec. 16 AP Photo/Reed Saxon

Dozens more demonstrators chanted and marched on a nearby sidewalk holding signs that said “Stop Bank Greed, Save Our Neighborhoods” as the 12 men and 10 women were taken into custody.

Detective Gus Villanueva said there were no injuries to police or protesters. All the demonstrators were released by late afternoon after all but one of them received citations for trespassing, he said.

Villanueva did not immediately know why the one protester had not been cited.

Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment member David Mazariegos said the demonstrators hoped to bring attention to the plight of people who were unjustly losing their homes.

84-year-old Julia Boteo is led away under arrest during the protest at Chase in LA Dec. 16. Photo/Reed Saxon

He said banks’ failure to modify many borrowers’ loans puts them in violation of the Home Affordable Modification Program in which lenders agreed to participate as part of the bank bailout.

“The banks are not helping anyone stay in their homes,” Mazariegos said. “It’s highway robbery, what they’re doing to these people.”

ACCE director Amy Schur said the groups were singling out JPMorgan Chase & Co. because most of the borrowers whose foreclosures and evictions they are contesting are serviced by that bank.

Chase spokeswoman Eileen Leveckis disputed that the bank was denying help to distressed mortgage borrowers.

“Chase is committed to helping struggling borrowers remain in their homes,” she said in a statement, stressing that the lender had completed more than 250,000 modifications since early 2009.

Frank DeCaro is taken into custody during protest. AP Photo/Reed Saxon

Before the protesters blocked the doors leading to the Chase branch, homeowners at risk of losing their homes to foreclosure used a microphone to tell of their difficulties getting help from Chase and other banks.

Among them was Esperanza Casco, 47, who said her Long Beach home was foreclosed on even though she’d been making all the payments required under modification and forbearance deals worked out with Chase.

A Chase spokesman said in an Associated Press story last month that the bank gave Casco and her husband as many opportunities as it could to qualify for a modification, but that the couple was unable to do so.

The Cascos were scheduled to be evicted this month, but on Tuesday, Chase rescinded its eviction threat and offered them a new modification.

Fellow protesters awaiting their own arrests cheer as Javier Sarmiento is led away by police. AP Photo/Reed Saxon

Chase spokesman Tom Kelly on Thursday declined to detail why the bank changed its mind, saying only that it reviewed the case again “with updated financials” and was able to approve the modification.

But Esperanza Casco said the financial information they sent the bank most recently was identical to the paperwork they previously provided.

“They saw that we were putting pressure and the publicity we were getting. But this is not just about us,” she said in Spanish through an interpreter. “There’s lots of people facing the same situation we’re in.”

(Ed. note: Chase Bank is also the target of a national boycott initiated by the coalition People Before Banks, which includes the United Autoworkers, the Farm Labor Organizing Committee, and Detroit’s Moratorium NOW! Coalition against Foreclosures, Evictions and Utility Shut-offs. The group has been leafletting Chase banks throughout the metro area. To contact People Before Banks, email peoplebeforebanks@gmail.com, or call 313-319-0870.

Aiyana Jones Family photo

Show filmed Detroit police killing of 7-year-old child

By Diane Bukowski

DETROIT – “There were two people out there, a man and a lady, and they had videocameras and were filming while the police raided our home and killed my 7-year-old niece Aiyana,” LaKrystal Sanders said. “It was wrong. I begged them to stop filming, but they wouldn’t stop. They knew there were children in the house, there were toys all over the front yard. I asked them and the police for a warrant and they couldn’t come up with any.”

Aiyana's grandmother Mertilla Jones, who was sleeping with the child when Detroit police shot her to death, grieves with Aiyana's aunt LaKrystal Sanders at press conference in May (Photo by Diane Bukowski)

Aiyana Jones’ father Charles Jones, mother Dominika Stanley, and grandmother Mertilla Jones filed suit in federal court Dec. 14 against the A&E Television Network, the First 48 Television Show, and a contractor, who were filming a police raid on Aiyana’s home May 16. The suit asks for 10 types of monetary compensation, including “hedonic damages” related to the intangible value of life.  

Detroit police officer Joseph Weekley, at the time a regular “star” on the program, shot Aiyana in the head after he and a partner threw an incendiary “flash-bang” grenade through the front window of the family’s home without warning, according to the family’s attorney Geoffrey Fieger. Fieger filed suit against Weekley and an unnamed partner in May, in state court. That suit is currently ongoing.

The Jones home was located in a poor east-side Detroit neighborhood that is over 90 percent Black, with a 33 percent poverty rate according to 2000 US Census records. Weekley, who is white, lives in one of Detroit’s wealthiest suburbs, Grosse Pointe Park, according to court records. He has not been disciplined or charged, and is still active on the police force.

Detroit cop Joseph Weekley, a Grosse Pointe Park resident, aimed at and shot Aiyana through the head May 16, according to family's attorney

A&E Television Network (AETN), raked in $1.05 billion in revenue in 2005, according to Advertising Age, an industry publication, AETN is jointly owned by NBC Enterprises, which made $12.44 billion, Disney, which made $17.14 billion, and Hearst Enterprises.

The AETN suit, filed by Fieger’s firm, cites a written agreement between A&E’s contractor, Kirkstall Road Enterprises of New York City, with Detroit’s police chief at the time, Warren Evans.

“The Agreement gave Defendants unprecedented access to work with the Detroit Police Department and video tape and record, in the words of the Agreement, ‘an innovative and documentary experience.’ This ‘innovative’ experience ended up being the tragic and senseless death of Aiyana.”

The written agreement, attached to the lawsuit, provided no payment to the City of Detroit or its police department and reserved all ownership rights for the program to the producers.

Aiyana's father Charles Jones, attorney Geoffrey Fieger, mother Dominika Stanley, and grandmother Mertilla Jones at press conference shortly after child's murder Photo by Diane Bukowski

The suit adds, “Prior to the decision to illegally assault Aiyana’s home, there were discussions about the fact that television cameras would be present and the desire to create a ‘good show’ and/or to create ‘great video footage.’”

Sanders said she and her fiancée, Chauncey Owens, and many of her mother’s 18 grandchildren were outside the house all day. They saw what attorney Fieger later described as an undercover police vehicle watching their two-family flat.  

Aiyana, Charles and the grandmother Mertilla Jones, along with three younger children including an infant, lived downstairs from Stanley and Owens.

Police claimed they were looking for Owens on a murder warrant when they assaulted the building. But Sanders said police came to their door looking for “Chinaman,” Owens’ brother, who used to live there but had moved.

“When they knocked on my door, I let them in,” she said. “They had no reason to assault my mother and brother’s home and kill my little niece. And A&E had no reason to try to make my family look bad for something we didn’t do. If the police hadn’t been showing off for the cameras, my niece would still be alive.”

None of the defendants in the suit returned calls for comment.

For further information, contact the offices of Fieger, Fieger, Kenney, Johnson & Giroux at 1-248-355-5555.

DTE Cobo Hall propaganda event Dec. 13 WSWS photo

BREAKING NEWS: Two sentenced Dec. 15  for “restoring gas and /or electricity theft without the authorization of DTE” to the Young family, which lost three toddlers in 2009 fire; Judge Daniel Ryan sentenced handyman James Sand to 10 months in jail with 2 years probation; landlord Darnell Jackson got 3 years probation with restitution.  They were only trying to help the family stay warm after DTE shut off their heat in the freezing cold.

By Jerry White

Dec. 14, 2010

DETROIT — Several thousand residents who have either lost their utility service or are in danger of doing so attended a “Customer Assistance Day” sponsored by DTE Energy in downtown Detroit on Monday Dec. 13.

Toddlers Tra'vion, Selena and Fantasia Young, dead last year in fire caused by DTE shut-off; Judge Daniel Ryan just sent handyman to jail for turning the family's electricity back on to help them stay warm

Low-income workers, the unemployed and families with small children braved the bitter cold and the season’s first major snow storm to come to the event, which the energy giant expected to attract up to 7,000 applicants. Behind on their utility bills, many who attended owe the company thousands of dollars.

The event was a public relations affair that will do little to help the enormous numbers of people facing the prospect of a winter without heat and lights in their homes. DTE spokesman Scott Simons said 476,000 customers are currently behind on their bills, and that the utility’s electrical and gas divisions had already cut off service to 200,000 households this year.

There is no state law prohibiting the shutoff of utilities in the winter, despite the fact that house fires caused by space heaters, ovens and other unsafe forms of heating are a regular occurrence in Detroit. During the winter months last year, at least 11 area residents―including small children, handicapped workers and senior citizens―lost their lives in house fires that occurred after the DTE cut off service to their homes. The tragedies provoked public outrage and led to the formation of the Committee Against Utility Shutoffs by the Socialist Equality Party. (See CAUS web site).

DTE urged those attending Monday’s event to apply for assistance from charities like the Salvation Army and cash-strapped state agencies. One such program, the State Emergency Relief Fund (SER), relies on funding from the federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), whose allocation Congress is slated to  cut by 35 percent this season, from $5.1 billion to $3.3 billion.

Dozens protested shut-offs outside DTE HQ Dec. 10 Photo by Daymon Hartley

Even after meeting stringent income requirements and other hurdles to qualify for the SER program, a worker with the Michigan Department of Human Services, which oversees the program, told the WSWS, “The maximum help someone can get from us is a one-time $350 check for gas and another $350 for electricity―for a total of $700. You can only use it once and many people run out of money before the winter and have no heat.

“When we make a payment to DTE it holds them off for 30 days. Then they can come right back and shut off your service. If you owe more than a total of $700, you have to pay off the balance or you’ll be cut off. We’re being overwhelmed by the need.”

Another program, The Heat and Warmth Fund (THAW), which is only available to low-income residents who have received a shut-off notice or have already been cut off and who have exhausted all federal and state funded programs, quickly runs out of resources each year, leaving tens of thousands of households with no assistance.

DTE officials boasted that a series of fundraising events held this past weekend aimed to bring in $1 million to help residents pay their utility bills. This is a drop in the bucket compared to the hundreds of millions in back bills being demanded by the Fortune 500 company, which has made a half billion in profits so far this year.

“How much more would be available to help utility payers would depend on federal grants from LIHEAP,” Simons told the WSWS. Noting that the program had lost billions in funding, he added, “With fewer dollars it means there will be fewer people getting help.”

Profits over lives; protest at DTE HQ 12 10 10 Photo by Daymon Hartley

Monday’s “Customer Assistance Day” was one of a series of public relations events held by DTE to deflect criticisms over its shutoff policy and exorbitant rates. The events have had the added purpose of boosting the false idea that there are innumerable resources to help customers. They are designed to propagate the myth that if a household’s utilities are shut off, it’s their own fault.

In an effort to deny its responsibility for the house fires last year and prepare public opinion for a further loss of life this winter, DTE, state and local politicians and the news media have also blamed the tragedies on unauthorized utility hookups and so-called “energy theft.” (See “Media campaigns against ‘energy theft’ at beginning of heating season”)

Members and supporters of CAUS passed out a statement (“End all utility shutoffs! Electricity and gas must be social rights!”) encouraging the development of an independent movement of the working class to take profit out of the provision of utilities.

Several residents stopped to speak to the World Socialist Web Site. An unemployed construction worker who had an outstanding bill of $2,000 said, “People are standing in long lines here and there is no guarantee that they will get help. You can get a $1,000 bill for the winter. Everybody is going through a rough time now. The utility rates are going higher and higher. All you have in this country is the rich and the poor―it’s all divided into classes.

Laid-off worker Crystal Brittman and children came to get help to stop shut-off WSWS photo

“What are people going to do if they cut off your heat in the winter? People have kids and they are not going to watch them freeze to death. DTE screams about ‘energy theft’ but people are going to do what they have to. If you were in the woods and it was ice cold, you would start a fire. It’s natural.”

Angela Robinson, who works at Comerica Park baseball stadium, said, “I was laid off for a month and got behind on the bills. They shouldn’t be allowed to cut you off. Heat, water and lights are a basic necessity. There aren’t many jobs and people should be helped.”

Renee Williams said, “A lot of people are behind on their bills. There should be a law against DTE raising rates. Now they have gas and light bills together, and if you can’t pay one they’ll shut you off of both services. People are using hot plates, stoves and space heaters to stay warm. I had a fire at my house last night. It started in the backyard and fortunately it never came into the house. The only reason DTE is holding this event is because that two-year-old lost his life in house with no heat and so many others did last year. It takes people to die before they offer any help.” (See “Two-year-old boy dies in Detroit house fire” )

Renee Williams, center, Jatonia, left, Kobi, right WSWS photo

“A lot of people are struggling. There are no jobs. The Democrats and the Republicans aren’t doing anything. People are willing to work, but they don’t have jobs. You turn in a job application and they say, ‘We’ll get back to you’ or ‘We’ll keep it on file.’

“Mayor Bing is worthless. I heard the city was giving traffic tickets to cars that were on the streets last September after the fires caused by DTE. The cars were all burnt up and they gave the people parking tickets. As for Obama, all these politicians will say anything to get elected and then they will do nothing to help.

“It should be a crime to cut people off―but it isn’t. Kids are dying every day and DTE doesn’t want to take any responsibility.”

Crystal Brittman, a laid-off postal worker, said, “I’ve always thought that gas and electricity should be a basic human right that is guaranteed to everyone. But you are the first one that I heard say that.

“DTE doesn’t want it that way because they are making billions off poor people. This event is propaganda―making it look like DTE is doing something for the people, but they’re not helping. They gave me a $25 credit for coming here. If they hand that out to a couple thousand of people it won’t even make a dent.

“Some people have $6,000 to $7,000 in back bills. My friend had her lights and gas cut off and her children are in the cold. What if people don’t have any place to go? Now they are charging people with fraud for hooking up to the utility lines. But what are you going to do if you can’t pay?”

Daryl and Katherine Burchett have five kids, in danger of shut-off WSWS photo

Daryl and Katherine Burchett have five children

and are in danger of having their utilities cut off. Daryl, who is unemployed, said, “I’m laid off from doing fence work and welding. We’re here to get help

 because the bills are so high. If it weren’t for our family helping us out we would be just one step from being homeless.”

Katherine added, “It would be terrible to be without heat in the winter. We have a three-year-old.”

Daryl continued, “You’re going to see a lot of people from southwest Detroit down here today. There are no jobs and they are talking about growing crops in the neighborhood. I have nothing against crops, but we need good jobs.”

Heddy Dooley and son sought assistance Dec. 13 WSWS photo

Asked about the efforts to portray poverty in Detroit as a race question because of the city’s large African-American population, Daryl said, “That’s a bunch of crock. This is affecting everybody―black, white and immigrant. We’re all facing tough times.”

John Morris, said, “My bill is sky high. I was working at the Salvation Army and now I am laid off. I have a sister at home who is handicapped and she has to pay $500 a month in rent. The utility bill is in my name and is $205. I can’t pay that; my sister can’t pay that. I couldn’t make their payment plan to keep from them shutting it off. They haven’t shut it off yet. I am hoping I get some sort of assistance. You hear so much about people getting their utilities cut off, and it is getting cold out there.”

Heddy Dooley told the WSWS, “I am behind on my bill. I am a full-time student on Social Security and have a part-time job. It is hard to find full-time work. I feel bad for the elderly people and the handicapped. Every time the winter comes, you hear about people who die because their utilities were shut off.”

Naomi and Roderick Scott also spoke to the WSWS. “They didn’t give us any help at all,” Naomi said. “I filled out the applications and they gave us the $50 credit for our bill. They are telling us to go to THAW or the Salvation Army.”

Naomi and Roderick Scott WSWS Photo

“And THAW is saying they will not have any money until January,” Roderick said. “They are saying there is no help right now.”

Naomi added, “I have four kids and I explained that the best I could do is to pay $300 a month. They said no, they want the entire sum up front. That’s $8,000. Where are we going to get $8,000? We saved up the money to buy the house for $10,000. The bill is almost the amount we paid for the house.

“I worked at Ford for six years as a full-time worker, from 2002 to 2008. Then I was laid off for two years. When I got called back in 2010 we were put on a lower tier wage of $14 an hour, instead of $28. When I complained to the union they said, ‘Be happy you are working.’”

http://wsws.org

Mary Shoemake

Mary Shoemake, Community Activist 

Call’em-Out!!! Treasurer

UAW Local 6000, retired social worker

Michigan Welfare Rights Organization

Hood Research

Democratic Party 14^th District

Voice of Detroit

DETROIT — On Dec. 10, 2014, Ms. Mary Shoemake, an ardent member of the Call ’em Out Coalition, retired social worker, and life-long activist for Detroit’s poor and working people, made her transition after several months of illness, at Sinai-Grace Hospital.

Greg Frazier and Mary Shoemake present Power Couple award to Jan and William Malachi at Call em Out 7th Annual Dinner Feb. 2010

Going home services are set for: 

Cantrell Funeral Home Saturday, December 18, 2010

Family & Community Hour 10:30 AM   

Service 11:00AM – 12:00 noon

Interment Lincoln Memorial Cemetery Gratiot & 14 Mile

Repast:  Central United Methodist Church, Detroit, A Peace and Justice Church,

23 East Adams at Woodward, Detroit, MI 48226

ALL ARE INVITED TO CELEBRATE MARY’S LIFE OF STRUGGLE FOR THE PEOPLE, AND THE COMMUNITY’S ONGOING EFFORTS IN HER MEMORY

Mary Shoemake, Erma Thomas and Linda Willis participated in march for justice for Aiyana Jones, 7, killed by Detroit police; march was held June 26, 2010 in downtown Detroit

Sunrise – May 22, 1938   Sunset – December 9,  2010

Birthplace – Chester, Georgia

 Grew up on the Eastside of Detroit, attended Detroit Public Schools

Graduated from NorthEastern High School

 Served in the United States Army

 State of Michigan Retired Social Worker

More Information:  Agnes Hitchcock 313-874-2792

Ed. note: Mary will be forever loved and remembered by the people of Detroit for her quiet determination and militant beliefs. I will always recall her unfailing presence, with her constant companion Erma Thomas, at every court hearing when I faced 10 years in prison for reporting on a fatal State Police chase. Mary was a fighter who put her beliefs into action every day of her life. A people’s hero like her comes along once in a lifetime.

DETROIT CONTINGENT OF CONCERNED COALITION TO RESPECT PRISONERS’ RIGHTS HOLDS PRESS CONFERENCE OUTSIDE MOUND RD. PRISON DEC. 14

Elaine Brown

Link to radio interview with Elaine Brown by Davey D on KPFA Radio, Oakland CA (excellent, thorough interview is about 10 minutes into the tape)

Young prisoner Rodriques Dukes in solitary confinement at Georgia's Hays State Prison Photo National Geographic

GEORGIA PRESS RELEASE:

Concerned Coalition to Respect Prisoners’ Rights

Demand Governor Perdue and DOC Commissioner Brian Owens

Stop Violence Against Striking Prisoners

 PRESS CONFERENCE December 13, 2010, 3:30 p.m.

State Capitol 100 Washington Street Atlanta, Georgia

Georgia uses a paramilitary system that demands a rigid structure and full accountability of both inmates and COs (Corrections Officers). A CO monitors a cell-house to instill authority over the inmates. (Photo Credit Gregory Henry)

NAACP State Chairman Edward Dubose joined by representatives from the Nation of Islam, elected officials and others, who have formed the Concerned Coalition to Respect Prisoners’ Rights, will hold a press conference at 3:30 p.m. today at the Capitol to urge Governor Perdue and Department of Corrections Commissioner Owens to halt the violent tactics being employed by guards against thousands of striking prisoners.  They have reached out to Perdue and Owens for meetings earlier in the day.

Begun on December 9, 2010, the prisoners’ peaceful protest has been historic in scope and in the unity of thousands of black, brown, white, Muslim, Christian, Rastafarian prisoners, including those at Augusta, Baldwin, Calhoun, Hancock, Hays, Macon, Rogers, Smith, Telfair, Valdosta and Ware State Prisons.  For five days, now, these men have shut down all activity at most of these facilities.

            The prisoners are petitioning the DOC for their human rights, including being paid for their labor, provided educational opportunities, decent health care and nutritional meals, a halt to cruel and unusual punishments, and just parole decisions.

The DOC has made itself unavailable to the press and prisoner family members, creating fears that, behind closed doors, the Department will escalate this peaceful protest to a violent confrontation.  The Coalition is urging the DOC to come to the table in peace to address the prisoners’ concerns.

“Due to the harsh conditions faced behind bars and the need for prison reform, the men are staying in their cells as a form of peaceful protest.  No officials or staff have been threatened and no property has been damaged.  These men’s requests are reasonable and in accord with the basic respect and treatment every human being deserves,” said Elaine Brown, a social activist and former Black Panther Party leader.  Brown is spearheading the Concerned Coalition to Respect Prisoners’ Rights.  More information about the Coalition can be found on its Facebook page.

#   #   #

Contact:   Concerned Coalition to Respect Prisoners’ Rights concernedcoalitionga@gmail.com

LETTER TO GEORGIA GOVERNOR

Concerned Coalition to Respect Prisoners’ Rights

Gov. Sonny Perdue, Georgia

December 13, 2010

Via Hand Delivery

The Honorable Sonny Perdue

Governor of Georgia

203 State Capitol

Atlanta, Georgia  30334

Dear Governor Perdue:

            On behalf of the newly-formed Concerned Coalition to Respect Prisoners’ Rights, a nation-wide formation, I implore you to direct the Department of Corrections, headed by Commissioner Brian Owens, to cease and desist from using violent tactics to force prisoners engaged in a non-violent labor strike to return to work.

            The Coalition would like to sit down with you and Commissioner Owens to discuss ways to bring all parties to the table to address the prisoners’ concerns over human rights’ violations, including being forced to labor without pay.  We will make ourselves available at any time.

Edward DuBose, Pres. GA NAACP

            We look forward to coming together with you and the Commissioner as soon as possible, toward a peaceful conclusion to the prisoners’ strike.

 Sincerely yours,

Edward Dubose, Chair, Georgia NAACP

Tell the Georgia Department of Corrections that you stand with protesting prisoners

Click on: http://www.change.org/petitions/view/tell_the_georgia_department_of_corrections_that_you_stand_with_protesting_prisoners

Targeting: Brian Owens (Commissioner, GA Department of Corrections)

Started by: Wendy Jason

On Thursday, December 9, prisoners across Georgia joined in solidarity to demand that their basic human needs be met. You can help them gain access to the supports and services that will preserve their dignity by supporting their nonviolent protest. Please sign the following letter to Brian Owens, Commissioner of the GA Department of Corrections.

—-

Greetings,

I’m writing to express my concerns over the conditions of Georgia’s prisons, and to urge you to address the needs of Georgia’s prisoners.  After days of peaceful protest from prisoners across the state, no apparent action has been taken towards acknowledging their demands for measures aimed solely at preserving their dignity as human beings. Further, there have been reports that their nonviolence has been met with violence and the further deprivation of basic rights.
These acts of violence must stop, and the conditions of Georgia’s prisons must be addressed without further delay.  I stand in solidarity with the prisoners and insist that they be treated with respect and dignity, and that you act now to begin fulfilling the following demands:

·         A LIVING WAGE FOR WORK:  In violation of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution prohibiting slavery and involuntary servitude, the DOC demands prisoners work for free.

·         EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES:  For the great majority of prisoners, the DOC denies all opportunities for education beyond the GED, despite the benefit to both prisoners and society.

·         DECENT HEALTH CARE:  In violation of the 8th Amendment prohibition against cruel and unusual punishments, the DOC denies adequate medical care to prisoners, charges excessive fees for the most minimal care and is responsible for extraordinary pain and suffering.

·         AN END TO CRUEL AND UNUSUAL PUNISHMENTS:  In further violation of the 8th Amendment, the DOC is responsible for cruel prisoner punishments for minor infractions of rules.

·         DECENT LIVING CONDITIONS:  Georgia prisoners are confined in over-crowded, substandard conditions, with little heat in winter and oppressive heat in summer.

·         NUTRITIONAL MEALS:  Vegetables and fruit are in short supply in DOC facilities while starches and fatty foods are plentiful.

·         VOCATIONAL AND SELF-IMPROVEMENT OPPORTUNITIES:  The DOC has stripped its facilities of all opportunities for skills training, self-improvement and proper exercise.

·         ACCESS TO FAMILIES:  The DOC has disconnected thousands of prisoners from their families by imposing excessive telephone charges and innumerable barriers to visitation.

·         JUST PAROLE DECISIONS:  The Parole Board capriciously and regularly denies parole to the majority of prisoners despite evidence of eligibility.

I expect that you will convene a committee that includes prisoners, lawmakers, prison authorities, and prisoner advocates to take positive and concrete steps toward alleviating the inhumane conditions and lack of opportunities within Georgia’s correctional facilities.

Sincerely,

Thousands marched against auto bail-outs, lay-offs in Detroit Aug. 28; now GM wants to destroy DPS as well

$27 million grant to United Way, partner of Excellent Schools

By Russ Bellant

The GM Foundation announced on Dec. 10 that they made their largest grant ever, $27.1 million, to United Way of Southeastern Michigan (fka United Way of Detroit) to set up 20 academies in five area high schools. The high schools have not been named.

Charter schools CEO Doug Ross, Skillman Foundation CEO Carol Goss and DPS EFM Robert Bobb at Excellent Schools meeting

United Way is a signatory partner of the Excellent Schools Detroit plan for setting up privately controlled high schools to displace DPS high schools, funded by area foundations, including Skillman, Kresge, Kellogg and McGregor. The “incubator” for starting new schools for the Excellent Schools group is Michigan Future Inc. in Ann Arbor. MFI has been trying to get national foundations to fund the Excellent Schools plan to start up 35 high schools south of 12 mile and east of Telegraph. Whether in Detroit or a northern suburb, they are being set up to recruit DPS students.

Whether GM Foundation is funding the Excellent Schools or just a group that supports the plan is unclear. The nature and governance of the 20 academies is unclear. United Way was part of creating smaller high schools at Osborn and Cody which remained DPS schools.

Michael Tenbusch

United Way was a supporter of Mayoral control in the battle waged last summer, with Michael Tenbusch (former member of the state takeover board at DPS) leading the way for United Way. Tenbusch had previously set up Think Detroit, an athletic league, in the 1990’s, with Daniel Varner, who became a program officer of the Kellogg Foundation on April 29 and was recently appointed to the State Board of Education by Granholm to replace Reggie Turner.

As a program officer at Kellogg, Varner oversees the $7.5 million grant to Michigan Future Inc/Excellent Schools. How Varner will use his state board position to advance his day job projects has yet to be seen, but Varner is one of eight people that directly control Superintendent of Public Instruction Mike Flanagan’s contract.

Michael Flanagan

He can push for more Michigan Department of Education influence to help Varner/Kellogg/Excellent Schools. Varner does not have to push hard on Flanagan, however; Flanagan is on the board of Michigan Future Inc, to set up the private school network, a pretty clear conflict with his duty to help DPS. In fact, there are a lot of ethically questionable relationships here.

(ed. note: The bills sponsored by State Rep. Fred Durhal, which he intends to bring back in the next legislative session, hand control of schools with deficits to Flanagan in exchange for tobacco settlement funds, which will go to the banks to pay off part of the schools’ huge debt loads.)

Kellogg has been a major funder of the Detroit Parent Network, so Varner has some leverage with them as well. It should be noted that Kellogg has taken the DPN grant off its website, however. Skillman recently committed $750,000 to DPN, a group started by Bob Thompson when he was pushing charter schools in Detroit.

Skillman has already given over a million dollars to DPS prior to this recent grant. All the Excellent Schools foundations have given DPN support in the last couple years. Two of them, Kresge and Kellogg, were the secret paymasters to Robert Bobb when it was announced that his contract was renewed in March. Research eventually unearthed their role in partially funding Bobb’s compensation. In turn, Bobb is also a signatory to the Excellent Schools plan to tear apart Detroit Public Schools and is permitting them to use DPS facilities to launch some schools. Another huge conflict of interest.