(C) 1988 The Island Def Jam Music Group
Incarceration is a uniquely American issue. Whether or not you think it's a problem, a badge of honor, or merely a proclivity, you cannot deny that we love locking folks up. I say "uniquely American" because as it stands, the good ol' U.S. of A jails its citizens at a higher rate than any other in the world. A lot of credit for that can be attributed to what is commonly known as the "school-to-prison pipeline," a means by which particularly young men of color are channeled into the prison system, guided by inherent social disadvantages, discrimination, and a lack of education.
Melissa today will show you a remarkable interview she conducted in her hometown of New Orleans with an activist, Norris Henderson, who has dedicated himself to destroying that pipeline. That will spark a conversation you will not want to miss, and will tee off a Foot Soldiers profile of more folks making a difference at a local prison here in New York.
Other topics we'll cover today include, naturally, the just-concluded convention season -- including a full recap of what was discussed and presented at this week's Democratic National Convention, and what wasn't discussed. To help us break all that down are our guests:
- Lola Adesioye, British-born political writer and social commentator.
- Soffiyah Elijah, executive director of the Correctional Association of New York.
- Glenn Martin, vice president of Public Affairs at the Fortune Society.
- Ari Melber, correspondent for The Nation and an MSNBC contributor.
- Joy Reid, managing editor at theGrio.com, and an MSNBC contributor.
- Leslie Sanchez, Republican analyst and author of "You've Come a Long Way, Maybe."
As always, folks -- be sure to interact with us during the show here in the comments of this post, on Facebook, and on Twitter, using the hashtag #nerdland. We look forward to having you join us at 10am ET on msnbc!
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thank you for this show today - I live in AZ - prison state USA. we used to plan our prison construction based on third grade literacy rates...probably still do. Our mentally ill are over 9 times more likely to end up behind bars than in the hospital from a psychiatric crisis. we're privatizing prisons even though it costs the state more to do so. We're building a new supermax even though the state is being sued by the ACLU over its abuse of the mentally ill in solitary confinement, which is filled with them. 75 percent of prisoners come in for drug related problems, and only 4% get any kind of treatment - that includes acloholics in special prisons built just for "treating" people in for DUIs. some %05 of the population is infectedwit hepatitis c. the homicide and suicide rates under Brewer have doubled in the prisons, and the assaults have tripled under her. So, thank you for connecting the dots to help people see how disastrous this path is we've bee hurtling down since Reconstruction...
Hi Melissa,
I can't thank you enough for highlighting prison and justice issues, especially the rights of ex-felons. Your show might be the first ever on national television, let alone cable news, to address these Americans with such dignity, respect, and intellectual honesty. I would like to offer my story as an example, as I'm an American with a felony, too.
In 2010, I ran for public office in Cleveland, Ohio highlighting my felony (a sex felony, by the way...Google me, you'll see), making it a plank in my platform, running to "ban the box", advocating to make it illegal for employers to ask on job applications about past criminal history. The race was a crowded 9-person Democratic primary, and even with my felony, I came in a strong 4th place, only 12 votes out of 3rd place. I even won the highest turnout precincts by a large margin, precincts filled with cops and sheriff's employees, in the face of my opponents constantly lit dropping my criminal record to likely voters.
In other words, it is possible to overcome a past criminal history, no matter how horrible the crime, if you accept responsibility, pay the price to society, and make amends, just as every religion on earth preaches. Society doesn't yet live by this creed, putting egregious burdens on Americans trying to overcome their mistakes, for no reason other than vindictive, overzealous ignorance. Redemption is a hard road, I've lived it, and today I'm a better person for hanging my conviction from my neck like Biggie Smalls wearing a giant clock, and using it to advocate for the rights of others.
If you are looking for an unconventional story to highlight on your show about redemption for ex-felons, let me know. I'd love to be on your show to debate it. My perspective is very unique. You can learn more about me at my old campaign website, timrusso.org.
tim
p.s. keep up the great work. Your show is groundbreaking.
As a proud Richmond, CA resident, I am very pleased that our Sheriff has agreed to postpone expansion of our jails: In the short term this will mean the release of non-violent offenders and those caught up in ICE sweeps.
Important subject..Thanks...but doubt much will be done until our economy comes back more fully. Americans who are in financial trouble simply do not give time to those who are incarcerated, no matter how unfair the system might be at this time. Secondly would like to offer up a personal observation... In states that have term limits the state institutions suffer from inept governance, budget realities and just basically legislators who have the experience to recognized difficults and are able to negotiate compromises and find ways to affect change. Today, say in California, an elected official knows he/she has at most 4-6 years in office (2 terms)..so oddly enough, most arrive in the legislature only to begin job hunting. They don't have or take time to learn how each of these state institutions must be shored up in order to do their jobs...they don't care really...besides putting a bandaid on the problem. Also California has generally had aliberal Democratic majority which has always balanced against a rather conservative Prison System.. All of that is tossed...poor economy, inexperienced legislators and a more and more conservative Prison system dealing with mega overcrowding...no help on the horizon.
By the way, I loved that you got angry the other day when your guests and you were discussing welfare. Good on you. Honest emotion is welcome! It is also heartening to hear that so many on the other side are watching your show...Even with all the hate mail response...God works in mysterious ways...they could wake up one morning completely overtaken by your nerdiness:)) I know me and my friends are! Brilliant show and thanks for the diversity in all things. Ever considered having Dinesh D'Souza on the show. He is not one of my favorite persons, but I think with him, Nikki Haley and Governor Jindal are showing us for some whites, conservative brown skinned East Indians are the alternative quota filler. The fact that these folks have all gone radically conservative is interesting to me. I think its because they're parents come from a culture that is "classed" base. And, I also have always wondered if brown skin folks coming to America want to distance themselves from African Americans as much as possible given how America's brown skinned folks have been treated historically...I would also love to see Troy Duster, brilliant black sociologist at UC Berkeley and NYC on your show during this election season. Again, thrilled MSNBC was smart enough to add you to their roster!
Yeah, here in Penna., we have the dubious distinction of having judges who accepted "cash-for-kids" kickbacks from for-profit detention companies for sending young juveniles to lockup for minor offenses.
The private prison industry is a huge, growing business. They have been lobbying federal and state legislatures and participating in political campaigns, both to the tune of millions of dollars per year, as well as participating in ALEC (American Legislative Exchange Council) to push criminalization strategies and harsher sentencing for non-violent offenses. Currently they are working on beefing up anti-immigrant laws.
Why non-violent you ask? Because they don't really want the truly violent prison population. Violent offenders prove to be harder to manage and therefore are less profitable. The private prisons would just as soon let the public federal systems keep the violent offenders.
After seeing all the recent efforts to increase voter suppression, (and donning my tin-foil hat) I could imagine that for certain politicians, having more non-violent constituents behind bars might be considered a somewhat attractive idea.
Just a brief aside: Is MHP a Democrat? Just wondering. Where does she stand on the political spectrum? Has she identified with a party? Has she said she's a Progressive or a liberal? She did say she's a Seminarian. So....what's up? Is she a Democrat or not? Folks are tired of corporate liberals.
This post comes with an inherent ridiculousness alert! Wow, MHP's gettin her actin' clothes on this am. She's sellin' it. She's shakin' and sashayin' for MSNBC. She's in the role of a corporate pun-deet. Pun-deet sounds more southern than pundit I think, and MHP is definetely sounding southern, and she's larnin' how to sell it for the tv. :} I ponder that she's got her Louisiana Bayouin' attitude on. She's Louisiana shakin' and sashayin' and Bayouin' for MSNBC, She's dun' slid into her thespianish and aca-demi-corporate Louisiana Bayouin' shoes, uh huh, . Yeeeeow! She's a dang gum sudden-nuh fer'sure. ........... Pleaz' xs'cuze duh' dunggum' misspellinz." I couldn'hep it. I'm just crawdaddin' it and watchin' MHP. fer'awhile. '. Uh huh.
Sorry to hear about all the hate mail for Melissa's comments last weekend. Yes, she was angry. Anyone with a sense of justice and decency would be. Just made me love her more. Nerds rule!