Tag Archives: Politics

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“The Prison-Industrial Complex,” Death Row Interview, Mumia Abu-Jamal,1996

September 20, 2019 7:46 pm /

Submitted by: Jessica Gordon-Nembhard, Professor, Community Justice and Social Economic Development in the Dept of Africana Studies at John Jay College

To view video click here: Mumia Abu-Jamal “The Prison-Industrial Complex,” 

Mumia Abu-Jamal (born Wesley Cook on April 24, 1954) is an American convicted murderer, sentenced to death for the December 9, 1981 murder of Philadelphia police officer Daniel Faulkner. He has been described as “perhaps the best known Death-Row prisoner in the world”, and his sentence is one of the most debated today. Before his arrest he was a member of the Black Panther Party, an activist, part-time cab driver, journalist, radio personality, news commentator and broadcaster. Since his conviction, his case has received international attention and he has become a controversial cultural icon. Supporters and opponents disagree on the appropriateness of the death penalty, whether he is guilty, or whether he received a fair trial. During his imprisonment he has published several books and other commentaries, notably Live from Death Row.

The YouTube video was posted by Esoteric Word Views.  Can be used for educational purposes under the Fair Use provision.

Posted in: 1990-1999, Part 2: Subjects and Topics in Justice (Part 1 & Part 2), US / Tagged: , , , , , , , , ,

“Are Prisons Obsolete?” by Angela Davis, 2003

September 20, 2019 7:14 pm /

Submitted by: Jessica Gordon-Nembhard, Professor, Community Justice and Social Economic Development in the Dept of Africana Studies at John Jay College

To read online, click here: “Are Prisons Obsolete?”

There is abundant evidence that the current system of punishment and imprisonment is out of control and ineffective as a means of rendering more people equal, safe, secure, and otherwise free. Nevertheless, there seems to be a presumption that before replacing any of this outdated, ineffective, destructive, and obsolete system, we must first discover, create, or otherwise imagine an alternative one that is first proven to be effective and all-encompassing. Angela Davis further supports the abolition argument and provides some very clear and tangible reasons to further examine the impact of the prison industrial complex, rather than continuing with prison reform.

This book was retrieved from an organization website: The Collective Liberation. The Catalyst Project helps to build powerful multiracial movements that can win collective liberation. In the service of this vision, we organize, train and mentor white people to take collective action to end racism, war and empire, and to support efforts to build power in working-class communities of color. Use for educational purposes under the Fair Use provision of the Copyright Act. The book states that it is an “open media” book.

Posted in: 2000 - 2010, Part 2: Subjects and Topics in Justice (Part 1 & Part 2), US / Tagged: , , , , ,

“Structural Racism and Community Building” by Lawrence Keith, et al., 2004

September 20, 2019 5:29 pm /

Submitted by:  Jessica Gordon-Nembhard, Professor, Community Justice and Social Economic Development in the Dept of Africana Studies at John Jay College

To read online, click here: “Structural Racism and Community Building”

This submission is from the Aspen Institute: Lawrence, Keith, Stacey Sutton, Anne Kubisch, Gretchen Susi and Karen Fulbright-Anderson. 2004. “Structural Racism and Community Building.” Aspen Institute Roundtable on Community Change. Washington, D.C.: The Aspen Institute.

Since 1997, the Roundtable has been focusing on how the problems associated with race and racism in America affect initiatives aimed at poverty reduction in distressed urban neighborhoods. The Roundtable has explored how race shapes the social, political, economic, and cultural institutions of our society, and how those dynamics produce significant and ongoing racial disparities in the well-being of children, families, and communities. The work also has an applied dimension that describes how to incorporate
racial equity into social and economic development work. The premise behind all of the Roundtable’s work on race is that adopting a more race conscious approach to community building and social justice work.

This resource was found on the Internet at the Aspen Institute organization website. Use for educational purposes under the Fair Use Provision.

Posted in: 2000 - 2010, Part 2: Subjects and Topics in Justice (Part 1 & Part 2), US / Tagged: , , , , , ,

“Theorizing and Teaching Democratic Community Economics: Engaged Scholarship, Economic Justice, and the Academy” by Jessica Gordon Nembhard, 2008

September 20, 2019 4:27 pm /

Submitted by: Jessica Gordon-Nembhard, Professor, Community Justice and Social Economic Development in the Dept of Africana Studies at John Jay College

To read online: “Theorizing and Teaching Democratic Community Economics: Engaged Scholarship, Economic Justice, and the Academy.”

This chapter is from the book: “Engaging Contradictions: Theory, Politics and Methods of Activist Scholarship”, edited by Charles R. Hale, pp. 265-297. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

The editor says:

“Scholars in many fields increasingly find themselves caught between the academy, with its demands for rigor and objectivity, and direct engagement in social activism. Some advocate on behalf of the communities they study; others incorporate the knowledge and leadership of their informants directly into the process of knowledge production. What ethical, political, and practical tensions arise in the course of such work? In this wide-ranging and multidisciplinary volume, leading scholar-activists map the terrain on which political engagement and academic rigor meet.”

Dr. Gordon-Nembhard is a political economist specializing in community economics, Black Political Economy and popular economic literacy. Her research and publications explore problematics and alternative solutions in cooperative economic development and worker ownership, community economic development, wealth inequality and community-based asset building, and community-based approaches to justice.

Posted in: 2000 - 2010, Part 2: Subjects and Topics in Justice (Part 1 & Part 2), US / Tagged: , , , , ,

“Carta abierta de un escritor a la Junta Militar” by Rodolfo Walsh, 1977

September 17, 2019 6:12 pm /

Submitted by:  Maria Julia Rossi, Assistant Professor, Dept. of Modern Languages and Literature, John Jay College of Criminal Justice

“Carta abierta de un escritor a la Junta Militar is one of the starkest testimonies about the 1976-1983 Argentine dictatorship. Written at the first anniversary of the coup d’état, in March 24, 1977, Rodolfo Walsh risked his life by writing it and sending it to newspapers in Argentina and internationally. He was killed the following day. In this letter, Walsh openly denounces many outrages the dictatorship was committing—and was going to keep committing in the subsequent years. He denounced censorship, from the perspective of a writer and journalist, but also persecutions, kidnappings and murders. In a well-documented and analytical manner, Walsh also connected the economical atrocities the dictatorship was perpetrating—a series of actions that were going to affect the Argentine financial situation until these days. This letter was first published by the exiled writer Tomás Eloy Martínez in Caracas, Venezuela.

La “Carta abierta de un escritor a la Junta Militar” es uno de los testimonios más descarnados sobre la dictadura argentina de 1976-1983. Escrita para el primer aniversario del golpe de estado, el 24 de marzo de 1977, Rodolfo Walsh arriesgó su vida al escribirla y mandarla a periódicos argentinos e internacionales. Lo asesinaron al día siguiente. En esta carta, Walsh denuncia abiertamente las numerosas atrocidades que los dictadores cometían —y que seguirían cometiendo en los años siguientes. Denunció la censura, desde el punto de vista de un escritor y periodista, pero también las persecuciones, secuestros y asesinatos. De un modo documentado y analítico, Walsh también conectó las atrocidades económicas que la dictadura estaba perpetrando: una serie de acciones que afectarían la situación financiera del país hasta nuestros días. El escritor exiliado Tomás Eloy Martínez publicó por primera vez esta carta en Caracas, Venezuela.” (Comment by Rossi, 2019)

To read online: “Carta abierta de un escritor a la Junta Militar”

The Open Letter from a Writer to the Military Junta (March 1977 ) is the last letter of intellectual, journalist and writer Argentine Rodolfo Walsh, who sent copies by mail to the means of its summary and analysis of the first year of the dictatorship a few hours before being kidnapped and disappeared . It was described by Gabriel García Márquez as a “journalism masterpiece.” 

Posted in: 1970-1979, Latin America & the Caribbean, Part 1: Texts for Teaching and Learning about Justice / Tagged: , , , , ,

“Geographies of Race and Ethnicity II: Environmental Racism, Racial Capitalism and State-Sanctioned Violence” by Laura Pulido, 2017

August 20, 2019 5:54 pm /

Submitted by: Jessica Gordon-Nembhard, Professor, Community Justice and Social Economic Development in the Dept. of Africana Studies at John Jay College

To read online, click here: Geographies of Race and Ethnicity II: Environmental Racism,Racial Capitalism and State-Sanctioned Violence

“In this report I argue that environmental racism is constituent of racial capitalism. While the environmental justice movement has been a success on many levels, there is compelling evidence that it has not succeeded in actually improving the environments of vulnerable communities. One reason for this is because we are not conceptualizing the problem correctly. I build my argument by first emphasizing the centrality of the production of social difference in creating value. Second, I review how the devaluation of nonwhite bodies has been incorporated into economic processes and advocate for extending such frameworks to include pollution. And lastly, I turn to the state. If, in fact, environmental racism is constituent of racial capitalism, then this suggests that activists and researchers should view the state as a site of contestation, rather than as an ally or neutral force.”

This is a library resource, accessed by using John Jay login to the library.

Posted in: 2011 - Present, Part 2: Subjects and Topics in Justice (Part 1 & Part 2), US / Tagged: , , , , , , ,

“Five Questions” from the book UNAPOLOGETIC: A Black Queer, and Feminist Mandate for Radical Movements by Charlene Carruthers, 2018

August 20, 2019 4:47 pm /

Submitted by: Jessica Gordon-Nembhard, Professor, Community Justice and Social Economic Development in the Dept. of Africana Studies at John Jay College

This chapter is from the book: Carruthers, Charlene. 2018. Chapter 5 “Five Questions,” pp. 87-110. In UNAPOLOGETIC: A Black, Queer, and Feminist Mandate for Radical Movements. Beacon Press.

However, this book is not available in the John Jay Library. To read an interview with the author outlining the five questions click here: “Unapologetic”: Charlene Carruthers on Her Black, Queer and Feminist Mandate for Radical Movements

“And so, the five questions begin with the question of “Who am I?” because if you don’t know who you are, what your self-interest is and what your best position to do, you can’t be as effective of an organizer as you could be.

The second question is Ella Baker’s question. Prolific organizer, Ella Baker would ask people the question, when she met them, “Who are your people?” And the answer to that question has so much to do with the work that you do, why you do it and why you show up.

The third is “What do we want?” We have to be clear about what we’re actually fighting for. Are we fighting for healthcare reform, or are we fighting for universal access to healthcare? And I believe that we have to actually make transformational demands, right? And universal healthcare just run by the state, in and of itself, isn’t transformational. I want to live in a world where people actually have, and communities have, self-determination over their lives.

The fourth question is “What are we building?” Are we building a 40-year strategy? Which we need. Are we building a year-long strategy? Are we engaged in electoral politics? Are we doing not—are we doing direct action, civil disobedience? All those things are necessary, but are we clear about what we’re building towards.

And the last question is “Are we ready to win?” And that question, to me, is one of the toughest ones, because what happens when we live in a world, which I believe is possible, without prisons and police, where safety goes beyond prisons and policing, and it’s in the hands, the hearts and the work of everyday people? Are we ready to win that? Are we doing the work that when we actually are able to govern ourselves and our communities, to provide healthcare, mental healthcare, deliver basic needs like food? And so, when I think about the work that we need to do—and I talk about it in the book—I’m really interested in how are we getting down on a 40-, 50-, 75-year strategy, and what are the things that we’re going to do along the way.”

The interview is open access. The book is copyrighted and available to purchase.

Posted in: 2011 - Present, Part 2: Subjects and Topics in Justice (Part 1 & Part 2), US / Tagged: , , , , , , , , , ,

“Race and Criminalization: Black Americans and the Punishment Industry” by Angela Y. Davis, 1997

August 16, 2019 5:09 pm /

Submitted by: Jessica Gordon-Nembhard, Professor, Community Justice and Social Economic Development in the Dept of Africana Studies at John Jay College

The citation for where this reading is found: Davis, Angela Y. 1997. “Race and Criminalization: Black Americans and the Punishment Industry.” In The House that Race Built, edited by Wahneema Lubiano, pp. 264-279. New York: Pantheon Books. This book is not available digitally. To check out the book, go to the John Jay Library at Stacks E 185.615 .H68 1997 

“The House That Race Built is the response by some of this country’s most admired intellectuals to the crisis of democracy represented by the recent, ominous shift toward a renewed white racial nationalism. It is unified by a central argument that deserves to be at the heart of the national debate: that “race” and “racism” must be understood not just as referring to the relations between black and white Americans, but as constituting the central American dynamic by which a pervasive, antidemocratic social inequality is re-created, maintained, and justified to the detriment of all. In a post-civil rights era of rapidly increasing economic and social apartheid, The House That Race Built makes us see how Americans’ continuing delusory investments in the privileges of whiteness and the pathology of blackness uphold a social hierarchy that is destructive of democratic possibility. This book’s analysis of race and racism extends to the complexities of within-the-group dynamics of black Americans. How race is defined, and who gets to talk about it, determine how race and American whiteness will be understood and used: either to reconsolidate racial domination or to establish racial democracy.”
This is a library resource available with John Jay credentials.
Posted in: 1990-1999, Part 2: Subjects and Topics in Justice (Part 1 & Part 2), US / Tagged: , , , , , , ,

“Where Do We Go from Here? Chaos or Community”, Essay by Martin Luther King, Jr., 1986

August 16, 2019 3:51 pm /

Submitted by: Jessica Gordon-Nembhard, Professor, Community Justice and Social Economic Development in the Dept of Africana Studies at John Jay College

King, Jr., Martin Luther. 1986. “Where Do We Go from Here? Chaos or Community” [essay not speech] (1967), In A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches of Martin Luther King Jr. edited by James M. Washington, pp. 555-633. New York: Harper Collins Publishers.

The above suggested resource is not available online at John Jay, but is available to be checked out of the library at “Stacks E 185.97 .K5 A25 1991″
MLK’S 1967 essay “Where Do We Go from Here?” refers to the turmoil in the late 1960s around intense poverty, racism, the War in Vietnam, inflation, violence, and urban decay. The urban rebellions in Black communities forced the nation to confront the problems of racism and poverty, and attempt to resolve them.  Dr. King was optimistic about the future, if we were willing to make changes.  A sharing of power was required, but mostly we need a “transformation of values” and economic justice. MLK’s essay is extremely persuasive about the kinds of transformation we need to become a caring society and develop a beloved community. He also gave a speech with the same title that is not as focused on economic justice.  He based his book “Where do we go from here: Chaos or community: on that essay.
This is a library resource available using a John Jay login.
Posted in: 1980-1989, Part 2: Subjects and Topics in Justice (Part 1 & Part 2), US / Tagged: , , , , , , , , ,

“The Impact of Neoliberalism on the Psychological Development of Low-Income Black Youth” by C. Jama Adams, 2014

August 15, 2019 3:48 pm /

Submitted by: Jessica Gordon-Nembhard, Professor, Community Justice and Social Economic Development in the Dept of Africana Studies at John Jay College

Read online at: “The Impact of Neoliberalism on the Psychological Development of Low-Income Black Youth”

“This paper is a brief, psychoanalytically informed exploration of youth development, with a focus on the often-negative psychosocial impact of neoliberal ideologies on low-income Black youth. Neoliberal policies have influenced the psychological development of low-income Black youths, who are embedded in psychosocial contexts that are often under-resourced and negatively racialized. This substantially constrains their attempts to love and work. There is often a paucity of safe places, identity capital and caring tutors of the imagination that might facilitate good outcomes for these young people. As a consequence of being embedded in such emotionally austere and unsafe places, they often adopt postures that lead to their under-development and, too often, their early demise. The paper also discusses some strategies of resistance to neoliberal ideology and policy.”

Article published in Culture & Society (2014) 19, 39–46.  The library does not have access to this article. However, the author, C. Jama Adams, is faculty at John Jay and posted the article (author copy) at Research Gate. Free to use for educational purposes under the Fair Use provision of the Copyright Act.

Posted in: 2011 - Present, Chronology, Part 2: Subjects and Topics in Justice (Part 1 & Part 2), US / Tagged: , , , , , , , , ,
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