The National Offices
of Million Woman March/Universal Movements: at: nationmwm@aol.com
The Original & Historic
Million Woman March
“FROM MARCH TO MOVEMENT” 2015
The historic Million Woman March (MWM), the largest gathering in the world of women
anywhere, ever.
And is now preparing to take major
‘next steps” in bringing forward its mission and evolving work that will assist
in bringing forward the necessary further development of its local, national,
and international agenda and related initiatives; hence establishing and
strengthening the first global Movement for All women and girls of African
descent worldwide .
This year as part of the MWM 18th year anniversary
commemoration and in preparations for the launching of its exciting and
groundbreaking Direct Action” BLACXPRINT”
2020 Program that consist of major
Human Rights and Self-Determination initiatives, campaigns, and other programs,
monthly activities and special events will be held year round nationwide.
In recognition of this year’s “Black History Month” 2015 observance, the MWM-UM Northern NJ Branch will host a celebratory evening to honor African descendent people who have
paved the way, particularly inthe US, for the obtainment of freedom and justice and also those who
have made incredible achievements and contributions
to the world.With a powerful
presentation provided by Attorney Alton
Maddox and a ninformative and inspirational community open forum facilitated by Sis. Empress Phile’ Chionesu that will
focuson some of the concerns and important
social issues of today.
Thurs. February 5th, 2015
Reception: 5:00 PM Program:6:00 PM
Newark MAIN LIBRARY 5 Washington Street, Newark, NJ
Admission:Free
·NOTE:The next monthly MWM Northern New Jersey Community
Meeting(with a focuson Women’s History Month )will
take place on Thurs. March 5th,
2015 at the Newark Main Library
On behalf of
Decarcerate the Garden State, we are writing to express our support for,
emdorsement of and / or co-sponsorship of the February 28
March Through Newark calling upon NJ and local governments to raise the
minimum raise to $15 per hour.
As a statewide committee
primarily concerned with building a movement that effectively fights to
end mass incarceration in NJ and throughout the country, we see the link of the
issue of lack of employment opportunity, the lack of jobs which provide
a means to survive through a livable wage, consistent hours and full
benefits to the issue of increased incarceration, particularly of Black, Latino
and impoverished communities that are disproportionately impacted by
lack of jobs and lack of jobs which provide a means toward survival. Impoverished
communities (which includes Black and Latino populations and
more) are making the bare minimum for survival-they cannot otherwise
save, invest or purchase goods - often not even necessities.
The
fight for livable wage – of at least $15 per hour for starters – can not
be separated from the demand for access to livable wage jobs for all
that need them to survive – the demand for full employment. If private
industry is not able or willing to fully and adequately employ the
masses of people that are struggling without gainful employment – then
the funds that are squandered from the coffers of the federal government
on bail outs of banking criminals, subsidies to companies that accrue
profits for billionaires, militarism and war, mass incarceration,
privatization of schools and other public services MUST BE REDIRECTED
and instead funneled toward rebuilding the impoverished
communities, refurbishing the schools, providing accessible public
housing for all that need it, providing health clinics, dental clinics,
day care and other badly needed projects to service the deprived
impoverished communities and peoples throughout this state and nation.
Meeting human needs adequately can easily lead to meeting full-time
employment jobs needs for all willing and able to work.
We
are impressed with the goals and efforts of 15 NOW to mobilize,
organize and engage rank and file working people in the fight for 15.
Likewise, our goals are to work directly with the youth targeted for
mass incarceration as well as the incarcerated themselves and their
families in a unified fight to end mass incarceration.
It
is clear that some impoverished people – in debt for many reasons –
with bills and costs of day to day survival piling beyond capacity to
pay – often under penalty of arrest and incarceration if debts are not
paid – with no access to decent livable wage humane treatment employment
will do whatever it takes to feed their own, to take care of their own
needs and those of their family, to pay down debt to avoid incarceration
– even if it means turning to an alternative economy – risking their
lives and risking their freedom – in order to survive. It is not
complicated – it is a simple math equation. And when they get caught
they can end up another incarcerated person.
For these
reasons it is imperative for the Decarcerators of the Garden State to
recognize these issues as focal points of a common struggle. And as we
struggle for full employment, livable wage jobs, with consistent hours,
humane treatment and benefits – we also have to remind everybody to
include in the struggle complete lifting of all stigma for those who
were formally incarcerated – not just banning the box. Jobs when they
are provided need to be inclusive and available for those that have
served time.
The first thing anyone wants when they
return to the community is meaningful employment – almost everybody
getting out has debt and has the threat of re-incarceration if they are
unable to pay it down. And since the employment opportunities are not
there in general – and it is many times worse for those who have a
prison sentence behind them – the vicious cycle is bound to repeat
itself. And the stigma against offenders must
come to an end – not only for employment, but for housing and all public
assistance. Otherwise – who are we kidding! The return to the
community is only temporary.
We urge the $15 NOW support movement
to continue to incorporate into its materials and its approach – as has been done in NJ – support for decarceration, for the NJ
Decarceration Act, for full employment and an end to stigma for those
returning from incarceration in employment and the availability of
public assistance and housing.
We would like to support
this event and also we would like the opportunity, if there are going
to be public addresses of the marchers, we would like for a member of
our committee to be availed the opportunity to address the demand for
$15 NOW from our decarceration perspective as touched upon in this
letter. Please let us know how we can endorse, sponsor and help build.
We also invite a member of 15 NOW to volunteer to publish updates on
the 15 NOW movement, including about this march at our blog site.
In Solidarity and with the unanimous support of Decarcerate the Garden State!
Decarcerate the Garden State and Camden Come Back teamed up
and produce an awesome community based panel discussion on mass incarceration
and the struggle to end it in NJ on Saturday, January 24at the Ferry Acenue Library in Camden, NJ.
The night before and morning of the event – we had to make a
tough call.The weather was borderline –
snow followed by rain with varying effect on parts of NJ.No matter what we were going to take a
hit.Postpone and we lose momentum –
possible availability of our keynote.Move forward and we lose at least some people that will be scared off
by the media hype that accompanies every snowflake.We decided that the best option was to move
forward.
Personally – everything in the morning for the most part
went off like clock work
I prepared all the hand outs and made sure I had all
the items needed to make it happen – picked up the Jericho entourage at
Trenton, son Rob along for the extra pair of hands and educational and movement
experience – roads not too bad weather or traffic wise – we got there before 3
pm.We could not have set up early
anyway since the previous reservation held the room until 3.
We ended up off to a little bit late of a start – about 3:20
pm and since we only had the room for less than 2 hours that provided our first
challenge.
In the room along with the Decarcerators from NJ and even
Pennsylvania and the Jericho crew from NY there were two reporters and a news
photographer representing South Jersey Times and The Gleaner, a campus paper at
Rutgers Camden.Rowan University was
also represented by a faculty member, several student including one who would
participate on the panel.
The event was kicked off with an introduction by Queneke
King who had already done much to bring the success to the event having written
the press release that led to advance coverage by the Patch and NJ dot
com.Below is the press release with
links to the many outlets including news outlets the press release resulted
in.(Follow up calls and e-mailing and
tweeting the release were also part of the process of getting the information
across to achieve the advances.)
First up was keynote speaker Dequi Sadiki.She painted the broad brush of mass
incarceration from the days of capture for enslavement, through the counter
–liberation warfare against the Black Panther Party and other US Black
liberation forces to today’s war on drugs and mass imprisonment.She drove home the point about how the latest
wave of mass incarceration from the 70s through today was and is a means of
controlling the oppressed of this nation and of this world.She highlighted the importance for our
decarceration movement to put the freedom for all political prisoners and
prisoners of war at the forefront of our demands for decarceration.She also read a passage she co-wrote with her
husband, former political prisoner for over 3 decades Sekou Odinga ( http://www.sekouodinga.com/ ) from the
collection of works just published:
The Roots of Mass Incarceration: Locking
Up Black Dissidents and Punishing the Poor Edited by Mumia Abu-Jamal and Johanna Fernández
published by Journal of the Research Group on Socialism and Democracy
Queneke next introduced Gary Frazier.He started outright with explosive
information about a recent incarcerated casualty, a Camden resident who ended
up deceased at the Southwoods facility.While the authorities are reportedly claiming a heart attack, Gary relayed
having seen injuries suggesting otherwise.This information had not been broken though has been a matter of under
the radar and social network consideration in recent days.Gary’s highlighting this casualty led to it
breaking in the NJ dot com article (see below).
Gary laid out the vicious cycle for those who have been incarcerated and
are in debt due to child support or other debts related to their prosecution
and unable to get work due to their stigmatization for past incarceration and
the plain lack of availability of livable wage jobs particularly in
impoverished communities.He conveyed
clearly the need for the cities across the US to unite to bring an end to mass
incarceration and deal explicitly and effectively with the issues of re-entry,
employment and recidivism.His
insightful presentation is available in full at this link:
The Honorable Allen Cannon, former Deputy Mayor of Hopewell Township and
President of the Camden High School Alumni Association reiterated the systemic
double standards and the racial stereotyping that feeds mass
incarceration.He called for greater
civic and political engagement including electorally of the Black and other
impoverished communities.He talked
about the many ways that corporate power games the system to control outcomes
including Citizens United that legalizes purchasing of political office by
corporate power.His presentation:
Following, Nia Ali, a Musical Theatre major at nearby Rowan
University and a co-founder of the anti-violence Keep Youth and Streets Safe
from her home town of Plainfield spoke on behalf of the Youth Section of
Decarcerate the Garden State.She urged
the engagemet of youth organizers and activists in working to waken youth up to
the dangers of what she terms “hyper” incarceration – instead of mass
incarceration – because it targets some sub sectors of the population more
intensely than others.She hit on the
school to prison pipeline and how school discipline matters now often result in
arrest situations.Nia issued an urgent
clarion call upon youth to join the battle to learn about mass incarceration
and to rise up against the system of mass incarceration:
Following Nia was my own presentation.We had started late and the program so
far
had taken a little longer than expected.It also became apparent that the library wanted us out not at 5pm but
beforehand.So I had to do some fast talking
to get out our 6 points of action.My
son told me that I was rushed made me sound more intense – maybe that was good.
Our 6 points of action include:
1. Fight for introduction and passage of NJ Decarceration Act calling for
release of non-violent incarcerated persons, 50% incarcerated reduction over
next 4 years, right to vote for incarcerated, funds that were spent on
incarceration and freed up follows the incarcerated back to their communities
to create jobs and re-entry projects, among other profivions.
2. Tour de Decarcerate: Our plan to host at least 30 panel discussions like this
one over the next year in cities across NJ.
4. Our justice committee fighting to free political
prisoners and supporting those falsely imprisoned or over sentenced, over
prosecuted as well as supporting demands to stop abuses occurring within the
system including day to day deprivations as well as solitary – and being ready
to support incarcerated should they launch a protest movement on the inside.
5. Study groups: Through study of New Jim Crow and other texts,
internet resources, videos, and participating in joint tudy groups, the
development of expertise among all of our members so that we can better serve
as teachers and discussion leaders on the topic.
6. Facilitate communication through the walls of the
institutions from the inside to the outside to publicize abuses in the system,
share the information from the inside and any information about protests inside
and from the outside to the inside to let the incarcerated know that we are
building a decarceration movement so that they can have some hope – and to let
them know if they do decide to strike or protest on the inside we are ready to
support and rally solidarity from the outside.
For more on the 6 point action plan of Decarcerate the Garden State:
After the formal event – it was continued informally at a
local pizza shop – we enjoyed pizza and each others company and lasting bonds
of unity and camaraderie were formed.
The major accomplishments of the event were:
1.Unity of Camden fighters with students from
Rowan University and Rutgers Camden – should these bridges be fortified there
will be HISTORIC repercussions.
3.It was revealed first time publicly about the
recent death of a Camden resident inside Southwoods State Prison – that authorities
are calling a heart attack but visible inspection of pictures suggest otherwise
– a piece of information that was picked up by the news article referenced
above.
4.Local resident Jennifer came to event with
several completed petition pages that she has been circulating in Camden.
5.Residents of Bridgeton came forward and offered
to help plan a forthcoming similar event there (where Southwoods prison is
located).Planning for the event has
already begun.
6.The assertion of a the Youth Section of
Decarcerate the Garden State with Nia’s presentation and several of her student
associates in the room.It is strongly
possible that we will be able to do an activity at Rowan and possibly at RU
Camden this spring.
7. There was a proposal for a second larger discussion - possibly a Street Panel Discussion again in Camden when it gets a little warmer with other communities and campus events leading up to it.
ORGANIZING PROCESS FOR TOUR DE DECARCERATE EVENTS:
The process toward this event is fairly typical of what
needs to take place when putting a local event together.The important thing is to have a local
committee on the ground to support the logistics of site reservation, to assess
the community and determine what groups to involve and how to promote in the
community and to participate in organizing, shaping the presentations, and
assuring the organzing fits in with the community goals and plans.
Gary Frazier had traveled to Newark to participate in the
Decarcerate the Garden State Street Panel Discussion on the steps of Newark
City Hall on July 30.He took stacks of
NJ Decarcerator papers back to Camden and determined that there was interest in
Camden in the issue. Since then we have been attempting to move forward with a
plan to hold such an event there.Given
local demands on Camden – its battle against the manipulations of the state
controlled school administration in privatizing the school system – the
activists of Camden are always splitting their time between various
pursuits.So it was not until December
21, 2014 that a meeting finally came together.
FIRST STEPS OF ORGANIZING A STOP OF TOUR DE DECARCERATE
In arder to strive toward our goals of organizing 30 or more
stops of the Tour de Decarcerate panel discussion tour, the following are some
of the first steps:
Have a local person that can call an initial organizing
meeting.At the initial organzing
meeting it is probably best to have at least 4 or more people from the local
community – but more is better and having representation from the local
fighting organizations is ideal.The
things that need to be determined at the meeting:
1. Is there agreement to do the event and enough agreement
among the local constituents to actually carry out the local tasks involved.
2. Tentative date of the event and tentative location (or
dates / locations).
3. A general agreement on the general format of the event.
4. A plan for going about determining how the speakers will
be selected , who will do the press release, and how things will be communicated
going forward and if additional meetings are needed.
If those points can be agreed upon and determined – then it
is a go.The following was the result
from the Camden kick off meeting.
Beginning steps have been taken toward an event in
Bridgeton.
We have been contacted by someone in Franklin Township and
their might be an opportunity there.
Anyone interested in exploring potential for
bringing our traveling panel discussion to their community should contact us
immediately at Decarc@DecarcerateNJ.org
or 908-881-5275.
