Slave
Trades
Are
Righteous
Because
Ultimately
Corruption
Keeps
Selling
Arresting Innocent Blacks for Incarcerated Employment
Starbucks doesn’t have the best history with marginalized communities and many of its consumers were distanced earlier a couple of years ago when two young Black men, Rashon Nelson and Donte Robinson, were arrested after just 2 minutes of being black at the establishment.
Many American companies have a violent history that criminalizes and exploit black people while charging exorbitant amounts for their products. Now that this company has grown at an exponential rate with locations on every other block, they’ve stated to have withdrawn from the slave labor practice. However that doesn’t mean that their use of slave labor for years to multiply their profits shouldn’t be highlighted.
There is absolutely no way that I’m going to visit Starbucks to buy anything in my life. I encourage people to continue to call out the companies that have used prison labor and especially those that continue to use prison labor. We can not allow the exploitation of people for profit to be a practice that gets swept under the rug after profit margins are multiplied. Protesters aren’t just protesting the current use of prison labor we are protesting the fact that there are companies that make extraordinary profits while marginalizing, criminalizing and exploiting communities of color. We are also educating people who are unaware of how widespread the practice of using prison labor has been in every area of our market.
We protest because the fact that Starbucks has a culture that would lead to the arrest of two innocent black men is disgusting, especially knowing how dangerous it is to be a black person and get arrested in the United States. Even while innocent, being black can be a death sentence at the hands of the state which we saw in the case of Sandra Bland and Alton Sterling. Countless black people have lost their lives as a result of an unnecessary encounter with police officers. When we allow companies that choose to exploit prisoners labor to be an American icon in the public market then we are indirectly saying that we approve of they’re exploitation and criminalization of communities of color, impoverished communities and incarcerated communities. While I was not responsible or even aware of the act that led to the shattering of storefront windows at Starbucks. I’m not disappointed that it happened. Again, I would not have even known had I not been quoted in an article about the incident.
You Can Afford to Invest in the Incarcerated Communities You Exploited for Profit
In the same way that Starbucks invested in race and equity training for their employees as a result of the unnecessary arrest of Rashon Nelson and Donte Robinson, companies that have used prison labor and those that continue to do so should also invest in the development and rehabilitation of their incarcerated employees. The only way to rectify a situation that’s led to the exploitation of a vulnerable community is by directly investing in that community.
Companies that have used any form of prison labor should be funding academic courses, rehabilitation programs and other resources for the people in prison that have contributed to the profitable growth of their companies. These businesses may claim to have been unaware of their use of the practice but their lack of awareness did not make working or living conditions any less oppressive for prisoners, nor did their lack of awareness raise prisoners’ wages. Companies that are truly remorseful for their use of slave labor should invest in the rehabilitation of prisoners for every year that they participated in the prison industrial complex. If companies can come into prisons and exploit their labor for pennies an hour then they should be responsible for supplementing those inmates lack of wages with resources and classes. Employed or previously employed prisoners should be surveyed on what types of rehabilitation programs they need and these companies who’ve benefitted from their labor for years should be more than willing to provide those needs. We need to see an investment into the lives of incarcerated individuals, the time has ended where we invest more in a brand more than into the lives of the people employed by those businesses. Due to these prisoners labor companies can afford to invest in their rehabilitation, and the mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, aunts and uncles we love are more than worth the investment. To Starbucks, Reggie Borges and any other company listed below that is currently or has been involved in the exploitation of prisoners labor I’m open to working with you on finding solutions for investing in incarcerated communities’ rehabilitation.
The National Prison Strike’s demand #7 and 8 can be accomplished through the direct investment of funds into incarcerated communities. Prisoners want to have jobs, but according to demand #2 they want to be paid the prevailing wage for their work. They want to be able to support themselves with their jobs, this is an effective way to practice money managment and they want to be adequately supported by their employer. Please consider bringing healing and restoration into these places, prisoners deserve the investment and are risking their lives today and for the rest of the week during the National Prison Strike to prove that.
Below I’ve included a database that lists companies who have or are currently using prison labor, please do the research necessary to make an informed decision about where you want to make your purchases. [ninja_tables id=”2357″]
