Posted by Editor on October 11, 2007 3:45 PM to Career News and Resources
Career News and Resources: CBC Town Hall Meeting Aims to Stop Prison Pipeline
By Matthew Cooper
Special from the ALC Daily
WASHINGTON (NNPA)- Congressional reps, educators and health experts identified key issues that cause a disproportionate number of Black youth to end up in jail rather than continuing their education during the Cradle to Prison Pipeline discussion at the National Town Hall Meeting during the Congressional Black Caucus Annual Legislative Weekend Sept. 27-29.
One answer from the panel, hosted by Leon Harris, anchor of ABC news in Washington, D.C., was to find ways to put more Black youth on the "Cradle to college pipeline," as stated by U. S. Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Va.).
"We need to put more money into prenatal care, nursing visits, and after-school jobs and activities, rather than prisons," said Scott to the packed auditorium of more than 400 at the Washington Convention Center. "The cradle to college pipeline is actually cheaper."
Star panelist Marian Wright Edelman, founder and president of the Children's Defense Fund, spoke strongly about the track that disadvantaged Black youth must take when the resources are not allocated to them. She distributed books to the audience that reported social reasons for the stifling of Black children and legislation that affected the rise of Black youth in prison.
"We spend three times as much on people in the prison population than on school pupils," said Edelman. "Eighty-four percent of Black fourth graders do not read at their level."
Walter Bailey, the facilities manager of R.A.P. Inc. (Regional Addiction Prevention, Inc.) in Laurel, Md., told about his road through life as an ex-felon. He used his experiences to let addicts know that they are responsible for their own actions.
"I used to think I can stand in the middle of Washington, D.C. And do what I want. I got to visit the finest correctional facilities, state-of-the-art, and the only way you knew there was a president was through a loud speaker," Bailey said.
The issue of convicts being released from prison without a job and without a chance was addressed by several members of the panel.
The CBC is currently supporting a "Second Chance" bill, designed to give ex-convicts jobs immediately upon release from jail so they don't have to return to the same criminal lifestyle.
"We are the most imprisoned nation on the face of the earth," said Congressman Danny Davis (D-Ill.). "Some people say it is the second coming of slavery. We must pass this Second Chance bill, stop felons from going back on the street to sell crack and blow."
The problem of identification was brought up by the Rev. John Crawford of FAITH, Inc. in Chicago, who has assisted more than 50,000 formerly incarcerated inmates obtain their State of Illinois ID card.
"People get out and don't have an ID. When they go to get a state ID, they tell them they need three forms of ID to get a state ID. By the time they finally get an ID they can be dead."
Audience members who were invited to the microphone to raise questions, spoke about issues such as head start for children, behavior and discipline problems in the school system, and the rise of young girls being incarcerated.
The success of Black men that are overlooked by the media was also an issue discussed by the panel. The contention was that most realize that they are responsible for their own destinies.
When an audience member asked Bailey about the sabotage of education in the prison system, he quipped, "The only person that sabotaged my education was me."
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