As a Revolutionary american AbolitionistI have too many friends who at electionAre just trying diss andIts hard to believeNo 20-somthings other than meCan see anything worth to redeemIn this broken democracyThis hopeless democracyThis choking democracyHow many of usHave to sigh “I can’t breathe”Before we choose to take the lead? The ballot boxIs just another WEAPONTo […]
Steadily the needle is pushing away from felony disenfranchisement and toward a more just democracy that values the voices of all of its citizens, regardless of their individual conviction history. In Michigan HB 5336 was introduced by Sarah Anthony at the end of last month in order to allow people in prison to register to […]
This week was called by Jailhouse Lawyers Speak (JLS) to be Unchain the Vote Week focused on bringing attention to the unconstitutional, dehumanizing act of felony disenfranchisement that plagues 48 of the 50 United States. During this week outside organizers hosted and attended events in solidarity with inside organizers’ call. One of the events I […]
In Massachusetts organizers aren’t waiting on legislators to understand the importance of incarcerated citizens having voting rights. Earlier this year in January S.12 was introduced by Senator Adam Hinds in partnership with Emancipation Initiative. The bill would have amended the state constitution to remove the phrase, “excepting persons who are incarcerated in a correctional facility due to […]
Felony disenfranchisement plagues people suffering from mass incarceration in a number of ways. These include people imprisoned in 48 of 50 states and those released from prison in 18 states. People often forget that these are not the only way that people are disenfranchised by the effects of the corrections department. While incarcerated in jails […]
California has historically been a leader in reversing the symptoms of Jim Crow laws that continue to exist in the United States. These Laws restricted Blacks from securing housing and exercising their voting rights. The federal government turned a blind eye to the local and state laws that reenforced slave conditions on the newly freed population and many states took […]
Several of the candidates had inclusive opening statements that made me question their authenticity. Bill De Blasio (NY) wants to “make a country that puts the working people first”, Tulsi Gabbard (HA), stated that she intended to, “fight for the rights of all Americans”, Kristen Gillibrand (NY) emphasized, “When are civil rights convenient?” and Joe […]
With our chanting Reparations 2020 and ADOS (American Descendants of Slaves) there’s a revived spirit among Black America that paints a color over this election that I’m invigorated by. We have full sight of our demands in 2020. Now that our generation has reached an age of maturity to not only vote but become well […]
In yesterday’s article we went over the conditions of voting for former slaves during the 19th century and how voting rights evolved over time in legislation and in practice. As people began to communicate around the barriers restricting their voting rights they became more equipped to organize in the interest of dismantling those barriers. This […]
Black people have exponentially grown as a demographic in the states since our kidnapping. Our population broke a million by the 19th century and continued to increase rapidly to 30 million by the 20th century. While our numbers, and contribution (labor, taxes, etc.) to the United States has grown, unfortunately our influence politically has failed […]