Dear friends,
Running late today! I’ve been working on a number of things this week, which will explain why it took so long to post today.
Yesterday, I was part of an online lobbying effort to build support for Fair and Timely Parole and Elder Parole. On the call, I heard from some formerly incarcerated people who had endured abuse, made mistakes, changed direction, overcome addiction, and struggled with the challenges of MetroCards and the internet. All of them seemed like people I already know, with the exception that they have spent time behind bars.
I had hosted a panel of criminal justice advocates in my classroom just hours before lobbying.
Among the panelists was Jorge Renaud, a prison abolitionist who currently works as the National Criminal Justice Director at LatinoJustice.
Jorge spent 27 years in prison for a robbery, and he is still on parole.
In classrooms, we teach children to have a growth mindset, to view their challenges and setbacks and struggles as opportunities for growth. We tell them that their capacity to learn —rather than their talent or their record of achievements — is what will determine their future.
But, as Jorge noted, the so-called criminal justice system sends a different message:
We're going to send you to live your life in a cage and we measure justice by how much time someone spends in prison.
Jorge is also a poet and was the 2021 Writer in Residence for the Texas After Violence Project. He spoke to my students, who attend an arts-focused middle school, about the pain of being unable to touch his loved ones and the way that art nourishes the spirit. He made a huge impression.
It was a powerful reminder that people are valuable and that we are a society wasting human potential. I have worked with a number of extraordinary people who have come out of prison to work with substance abuse and gang prevention programs.
There are no disposable people.
Contact your NYS lawmakers to let them know that you support Elder Parole and Fair & Timely Parole to address the prison crisis. This action is ready-made by FWD.us.
One of the many memorable things that Jorge said is that
the people close to the problem are the people close to a solution.
I was so glad that my students got to hear that. It was good to hear it myself. We are mired in problems, and some feel closer than others. While I have been preoccupied by war, I am more comfortable taking on those things close at hand.
There’s a bill called the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA), which is would allow tenants the first right of refusal to collectively buy their building. This is a great opportunity for the people closest to a building to meet their own needs and solve their own problems.
Use the call tool created by Housing Justice for All. Enter your address to reach your state legislators. There’s a script and it only takes a few minutes!
Here’s an issue that needs our immediate attention, as it has been completely under the radar: somehow, an anti-reform bill about freedom of information disclosures related to law enforcement made it through the NYS legislature:
Senate Bill S7734 would undo a reform law enacted last summer and that took effect just weeks ago to increase police accountability and protect citizens from excessive use of force by making it hard for police to withhold body-cam and dash-cam video and evidence documenting police interactions with citizens.
Apparently, the bill got by the reform-minded legislature by appearing to be a “technical correction.”
Please contact the Governor and urge her NOT to sign S7734. This is a ready-made action.
Here in NYC, the pressure to improve the city’s resilience is coming from inside the administration as well as out! Sanitation Commissioner Edward Grayson has expressed his support for
a mandatory organics recycling law.
Let’s amplify Grayson’s message.
Contact the mayor to voice support (again!) for curbside composting. This action is ready-made and updated!
In addition, city councilwoman Shahana Hanif put out the word about a program to educate students and maximize waste diversion:
Are you an NYC teacher who’d like to teach your classroom about 🗑 trash 🗑? @NYCSanitation will be awarding $1000 to select public schools that participate in their #FollowYourWaste game and commit to waste diversion projects. Apply online before 4/15 at http://nyc.gov/zws
Hanif has also come out in support of Brittany Ramos DeBarros for NY-11. This is the seat currently held by Nicole Malliotakis. In February of last year, I read and linked to this interview with Brittany.
On Sunday evening, I attended a Zoom fundraiser for Brittany Ramos DeBarros, mainly to make sure that she seemed as intelligent and serious ‘in person’ as she does in print. She did not not disappoint me. She answered questions with depth and detail.
On Monday, I wrote at length about Congresswoman Cori Bush. I noted that I am really limiting my appeals for individual candidates. Ramos DeBarros merits the exception because New York is our home and this seat is our responsibility. Nicole Malliotakis has to go; she does not represent the people of NY-11 (not even the old NY-11, before the new maps). And finally, Congresswoman Cori Bush and the rest of the squad need back-up from a progressive with purple-district credibility.
Ramos DeBarros, who hails from North Texas and now lives in Staten Island, has served in the military. She developed a thinking-person’s critique of military spending and US foreign policy and became an organizer with the Poor People's Campaign and About Face, an organization of veterans against militarism and war.
Support Brittany Ramos DeBarros for Congress.
Support Congresswoman Cori Bush in her bid for reelection!
Have a great afternoon!
with love,
L