By Kanya D’Almeida and Bret Grote / Al Jazeera Russell “Maroon” Shoats has been kept in solitary confinement in the state of Pennsylvania for 30 years after being elected president of the prison-approved Lifers’ Association. He was initially convicted for his alleged role in an attack authorities claim was carried out by militant Black activists … Continue reading Solitary confinement frequently used to torture and break Black revolutionaries→
By Ben Barker / Deep Green Resistance In the early days of my being politicized, I spent time with people in a subculture which can be summed up with the title “anti-authoritarian punk.” A favorite activity of people in this group was to bash something they called “political correctness.” At almost every gathering I attended—without … Continue reading Ben Barker: “Politically Correct” vs. Politically Opposed→
A United Nations investigator probing discrimination against Native Americans has called on the US government to return some of the land stolen from Indian tribes as a step toward combatting continuing and systemic racial discrimination.
James Anaya, the UN special rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples, said no member of the US Congress would meet him as he investigated the part played by the government in the considerable difficulties faced by Indian tribes. ... Continue reading →
By Steven Fraser and Joshua B. Freeman / TomsDispatch Sweatshop labor is back with a vengeance. It can be found across broad stretches of the American economy and around the world. Penitentiaries have become a niche market for such work. The privatization of prisons in recent years has meant the creation of a small army of workers … Continue reading US prison corporations exploiting nearly a million incarcerated people with sweatshop labor→
By John Nichols / The Nation Pressured by watchdog groups, civil rights organizations and a growing national movement for accountable lawmaking, the American Legislative Exchange Council announced Tuesday that it was disbanding the task force that has been responsible for advancing controversial Voter ID and “Stand Your Ground” laws. ALEC, the shadowy corporate-funded proponent of … Continue reading Corporate governance project ALEC disbands “Stand Your Ground” taskforce→
By David Edwards / The Raw Story Fears that the nation’s first black president will be re-elected has fueled the dramatic growth of extremists groups in the U.S. over the past year, according to a report from a civil rights organization that tracks these groups. The number of groups in the anti-government “Patriot” movement have … Continue reading SPLC finds 755 percent increase in US hate groups since 2008→
By Chris Kirkham / Huffington Post As state governments wrestle with massive budget shortfalls, a Wall Street giant is offering a solution: cash in exchange for state property. Prisons, to be exact. Corrections Corporation of America, the nation’s largest operator of for-profit prisons, has sent letters recently to 48 states offering to buy up their … Continue reading Corporate prison operator looking to purchase state prisons→
*Author’s note: This was written by a white person of privilege, living in a society of institutionalized racism and white supremacy. As a white member of this culture, I receive material, emotional, and psychological benefits from this unjust arrangement of power, and have undoubtedly internalized this racism. For me to speak on race is to … Continue reading Belated Reflections on MLK Day→
Having been raised in a culture predicated on racism and vilification of the “other”, we have all internalized a racist perspective. Relationships across lines of difference often fall prey to power dynamics reinforced by this perspective. The proliferation of “good white people” has not made the situation any better. In fact, as argued in this … Continue reading Are You a 'Good White Person?'→
