Sandra Hinson's blog

 President Obama is the first American president to ever visit a prison. And certainly, he is the first to break with the 'law and order' consensus that has guided both parties over the past forty years. It is a big deal. But how do we, the organizers and leaders who have been working on various aspects of criminal justice reform these past several years, make use of the President's symbolic gesture?  

"The Poor Are Treated Like Criminals Everywhere, Even at the Grocery Store."

"Americans Split Over Whether Businesses Must Serve Same-Sex Couples."

The following statement was issued by Centro Presente tonight in response to President Obama's speech announcing his Executive Action on Immigration:

The following are reflections on Tuesday's election from LeeAnn Hall, ED at the Alliance for a Just Society

I join all of you in a sense of disappointment and outrage as I consider the changed composition of Congress after yesterday’s elections. That outrage has ignited in me a renewed determination, stronger than ever, that we must continue our fight in communities, in cities and in states where we are making a difference. 

Voter Fraud: an Orwellian term, wielded to roll back voting rights. Purveyors of this term have trumped up a faux crisis, replete with images of black and brown people storming the polls and casting illegitimate ballots in such numbers that they are swaying the outcomes of elections. Proponents of this faux crisis cleverly pivoted the nation’s genuine concern for voter suppression in the wake of the 2000 election.

Of the many blogs being posted on this Labor Day, I recommend this one from Bill Fletcher, which concludes with the following:

Recent events in Ferguson remind us that mass incarceration is part of a broader spectrum of structural conditions that do great harm to lower-income black communities. What's happening in this predominantly African American suburb of Saint Louis affirms the wisdom of Loic Wacquant’s formulation of ‘hyperincarceration.’