Dear sustainability comrades,
While the degree of economic polarization is increasing, jails are used
to keep the poor in check and to help to perpetuate a racist ideology
that points a finger at the victims rather than at the real perpetrators
of crime. A truly sustainable community isn't one that relies on the
construction of more prisons, but one that recognizes the true injustice
in our society and provides good-paying jobs, youth programs, child
care, health care, etc.
A good friend of mine who has an absolutely beautiful, loving and
wonderful little boy once said to me "There is a jail cell with his name
on it." This is the reality of the world and the community we live in.
Please consider joining me at the Ithaca stop of the Campaign to End the
Death Penalty. More info below.
In solidarity,
Liz
Lynching Then, Lynching Now
Date: November 17th
Time: 6:30 pm
Location: Goldwin Smith Hall (Lewis Auditorium), Cornell University
Who: Open to the public & everyone welcome!
Come see the Ithaca stop of the Campaign to End the Death Penalty’s
national speaking tour. Alan Bean, executive director of Friends of
Justice, and Lawrence Hayes, former death row inmate and Black Panther
Party member, will be speaking about the continuities of the United
States prison system, from its role in crushing dissent to its racially
discriminatory nature.
Sponsored by The International Socialist Organization (ISO) & The
Discussion Forum: Intellectual Diversity Association (IDA). For more
info contact Sandy, [email protected].
More info on Alan Bean
Alan Bean is the executive director of Friends of Justice, a criminal
justice reform organization formed in response to the infamous Tulia,
Texas, drug sting of 1999, in which over half of Tulia’s Black males
were arrested and convicted on the uncorroborated word of a corrupt and
racist undercover narcotics officer. Bean, a local Baptist minister,
played a major role in organizing to expose the Tulia travesty and
working to free the defendants. Bean became a key organizer to free the
Jena 6, Black high school students facing criminal prosecution for
defying racist injustice in Louisiana, bringing public scrutiny to Jena
and creating the biggest civil rights protest since the March on
Washington. He is now working on a murder case in Mississippi that is
about to go to trial for the sixth time.
More info on Lawrence Hayes
Hayes was born and raised in Harlem and in 1968 became a member of the
Black Panther Party. In August of 1971, he was arrested for “acting in
concert” at a murder scene of a policeman. Hayes was sentenced to death,
and was one of the five New York State death row inmates awaiting
execution at the time of the Supreme Court’s 1972 Furman vs. Georgia
decision that abolished the death penalty. His sentence was commuted to
life with parole. Hayes was paroled in 1991 and since then has become a
spokesman against the death penalty. He has spoken at several colleges
and universities and is a member of the international abolition
organization, Hands Off Cain. Lawrence is the Co-Founder of Campaign To
End The Death Penalty. Lawrence has dedicated his life to ending the
death penalty and feels that, "Life should be held above death; there is
no excuse or reason to kill anyone, anywhere."
---
Elizabeth Viviana Karabinakis
Community Food Educator
Cornell Cooperative Extension Tompkins County
[email protected]
(607) 272-2292 x190
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