Yeah, you heard me right… break into prison… At least, that’s what a new study suggests, albeit indirectly…

Let me explain… a recent study of North Carolina inmates suggests that Black men, unlike their white counterparts, are half as likely to die if they are IN prison than if they are on the outside…

It also suggests that black inmates are more protected against alcohol and drug-related deaths, as well as lethal accidents, certain chronic diseases, violent injuries and murder…

According to the study, these results are largely and ironically due to the relative stability prison provides by way of medical care, daily regimen, and quote-unquote “3 hots and a cot…”

This is tragic… for a number of reasons…

The first, is that if this study is right, it’s a pretty dismal commentary on our society when jail becomes a more viable option for black men than the larger society we live in…

…and while I’m not one to buy into ‘doom and gloom’ media scenarios, it is not a stretch to imagine that our current economic woes have a much harder impact on black males than most other groups…

Second, prison is certainly not a cakewalk… It is a caged, dangerous and dehumanizing place, commonly with poor food, poor medical care and crowded conditions…

…and if this represents a “better” option for our young brothers, but not for white inmates, then it speaks to the truly dismal inequities in our society…

…and third, the findings of this study play right into the hands of the people-eating engine known as the ‘prison-industrial complex…’

You’ve probably heard the term before as it speaks to how U.S. prisons have to be fed, largely with young black bodies, and how they profit from the cheap labor they supply to private companies during their incarceration…

Sadly, some refer to this complex as the Black “workforce of the future” given the rapid expansion of our inmate population in recent years and the growing lack of jobs outside the prison gates…

This sick scenario gives purpose and even encouragement to inequities in society and law enforcement since, again, our prisons now become engines of profit that have to be fed and maintained…at great cost to Black lives…

As inmates, these workers have little to no rights (at least not ones that matter), so it’s a corporation’s dream… and politicians can play their role to perpetuate this process via draconian ‘lock ‘em up’ and ‘no tolerance’ policies that keep the engine oiled…

One question… Whatever happened to the term “rehabilitation..?” Remember that one…?

Well, we need to be aware of these trends and how they affect our community in profound ways… A number of folks, from Angela Davis to, more recently, Michelle Alexander have spoken and written extensively about the prison industrial complex…

You might want to check out Alexander’s book, The New Jim Crow… I’ll link it at my Facebook page at Stephanie Robinson speaks…

I’ll leave you with this quote by prison reform activist, James Bell:

“We live in a country addicted to incarceration as a tool for social control… justice systems are expensive, do not rehabilitate and have no evidence based correlatives to reducing crime. Yet with that track record they continue to prosper and are seen as an appropriate response to children in trouble with the law. Only an addict would view that as okay.”

Until Next Time, this is Stephanie in Love and Hope.

As you know, these words come from the opening of the original Star Trek series.

I want to talk about this today because this morning’s space shuttle landing marked the end of an era as Atlantis completed the 135th and final shuttle mission…

But what will never end is the contribution that role African Americans have played and continue to play in our country’s cosmic activities…

Consistent with the vision of the original Star Trek series, the field of space exploration has almost become as diverse as the famous crew of the starship Enterprise…

20 black astronauts have been involved with our space program and 14 have actually gone into space, including the first African American male and female in space, Dr. Guion Bluford and Dr. Mae Jemison…

And, of course, NASA itself is currently run by a brother who was a former mission commander of the space shuttle, Retired Major General Charles Bolden…

…not to mention the countless black scientists, mathematicians, physicists, astronomers, doctors and engineers who have contributed to our space program since its inception…

And how could we ever forget Dr. Ron McNair, the brother from North Carolina A&T killed in the tragic 1986 Space Shuttle Challenger disaster? Or the late Lt. Col. Michael Andersen who perished 20 years later in the Columbia tragedy of 2006?

African Americans have had a major impact on our space program and the program has had a major impact on us… Just think of the countless black children who became involved in science, math and engineering after seeing people who look like them taking off into space…

Space exploration gives us a platform to dream big… or as Capt. Kirk would say, to “boldly go where no man has gone before…”

Interestingly enough, Tom, one of the main people NASA has worked with over the years to recruit young African Americans into the science, math, space and technology fields is the lovely Nichelle Nichols, the original Lt. Uhuru…

Nichols once told a remarkable story that sums up the real significance of space exploration for our community… It happened during her Star Trek run in the late 60s when she’d decided to leave the series because she was unhappy with her role…

Nichols and the show were just about to announce she was leaving when she was travelling through an airport and ran into a “Trekkie…”

Nichols sat down with this gentleman, who happened to be pretty famous himself, and told him of her decision… Though he was rushing to catch a plane, he stayed with her for 15 minutes and told her the reasons why our black community needed her to stay on TV…

The discussion had an indelible impact on Nichols, so much so she reversed her decision and stayed on Star Trek for the remainder of its run… The Trekkie who changed her mind would tragically be murdered not long after… His name was Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr…

So take it from our late king… the images we put out there as a community are very significant whether here on earth or in the cosmos in shaping our aspirations and imagining what is possible…

You can join ongoing efforts to ensure that young African Americans enroll in and complete degrees in science and math by supporting the Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation, a network of 644 institutions, including many HBCUs, with a comprehensive support system for student success.  I’ve put the link on my Facebook page.

I’ll send you on your mission with an inspiring quote from late British science fiction author, Arthur Charles Clarke, who famously quipped:

“The moon is the first milestone on the road to the stars.”

Until Next Time, this is Stephanie in Love and Hope.

First, let me say that I hope that everyone had a GREAT day on Monday celebrating Dr. King’s birthday.  I spent the day at the University of Evansville where I gave the Keynote address to a wonderful group of students, faculty, and community.

And, Tom, as you know King’s work in not yet done.

Case in point: there’s a young man from Atlanta who, in many ways, is no different from the number of responsible and hardworking young African American college men …

His name is Eric – Eric Johnson – and he recently won a partial scholarship to Paine College in Augusta, Ga, where he’s been promised a full scholarship if he can earn a 3.0 GPA…

Eric, who is close with his mom especially because of the tragic death of his father 3 years ago, has a history of strong academic performance.  He was an honor student in high school…

And I want to talk about this young man today not only to tout his accomplishments—something the media needs to spend more time doing for our young African American men—but to highlight how impressive these accomplishments are in view of the dire situation Eric found himself in not so long ago…

On the night of August 17, 2009, a horrific crime rocked the Atlanta area as two men shot 22 year-old Nikki Neely twice in the neck in a home invasion… Robbery was the motive and the men, angered by the lack of money on site, shot the mother and proceeded to senselessly beat her 10-month-old baby…

Both mother and child ultimately survived the brutal attack but not without sustaining life-altering injuries… The crime was sick, Tom…

A day later, after seeing news reports, Eric recognized the suspects as two men he’d given a ride to earlier on the day of the crime…

One of the men, Antoine Wimes, he was familiar with because they’d lived in the same housing complex before… And although he didn’t know the second man, Wimes convinced Eric to give him a ride in exchange for gas money, which he needed…

Eric called 911 and told the police he picked up Wimes and another man, drove them to a gas station, bought gas and then took them further down South Fulton Parkway and dropped them off…

He and his mother were told that the Police of the district of the crime, would contact him… Once they did, the aggressive manner in which detectives spoke to this Good Samaritan made Eric’s mom uncomfortable about allowing her son to say anything further without a lawyer…

Remarkably, on Thursday, August 27, 2009, Eric was arrested at his home even though the lead detective later ADMITTED that he had no evidence that Eric was present at the shooting or knew that Wimes and his partner intended to commit a crime…

Eric was subsequently indicted along with Wimes and Donavon McCoy and charged with multiple felonies, including 2 counts of Aggravated Battery, Armed Robbery, Aggravated Assault with a Deadly Weapon, and Cruelty to Children…

All of this, in spite of the fact, that in the suspects’ initial statement to police they confirmed they’d been “dropped off” in the area earlier that day, and that an independent witness reported she saw Wimes and McCoy in the area near the time of the crime, but not Eric…

Additional witnesses confirmed Eric was home long before the crime; Still, he was thrown in jail, with his family unable to post bond…

But, hey, I guess they figured, “what’s another Black man in jail.”

Enter attorney, Mawuli Davis, from the Davis-Bozeman Law Firm who, after hearing details of Eric’s plight, committed his firm to representing Eric pro bono publico– which means FOR FREE.

This lawyer joined with Reverend Derrick Rice of Sankofa United Church of Christ and, together, they raised funds for the young man’s release on bond…

Out on bond, Eric began taking college classes, and eventually and thankfully all charges were dropped and his record was expunged…

Now Tom, this is the kind of story our media seldom shares… The local and national media was all over the place when Eric was paraded around in shackles and accused of a vicious crime, that he didn’t commit … But his innocence and success since as received little to no press …

In any event, here’s the thing: Eric still needs to raise $10,000 to complete the remainder of his freshman year, so Pastor Rice has set up a special fund at his church to help pay for Eric’s education…

This is the kind of thing that we say we want to see our churches and our communities involved in.

So, if you’re interested in supporting this young man, you can go to the Eric Johnson Scholarship page at sankofa ucc-atl.org… Again, that’s www.sankofa ucc-atl.org…

You know, Dr. Maya Angelou once said:

“You may write me down in history, with your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt, but still, like dust, I’ll rise.”

Until Next Time, this is Stephanie in Love and Hope.

Well Tom, the recent release of Tyler Perry’s For Colored Girls has, as expected, reopened some longstanding wounds in the black community regarding African American media images…

Just like the Oscar-winning Precious before it, the film, how can we say it, well… it certainly does not represent African American males in the most positive light…

And I’m sure many of you by now have seen all the media debating whether the movie is just another Hollywood-backed “black male-bashing forum…”

Now while I have yet to see the movie (I want to say that I planned to see it last Friday with my girls, but instead I spent the night in the ER, but that’s a whole ‘nother story)–and to clarify, Sybil, I’m not here to talk about the merits of the movie—I’m more intrigued by the discussion around it which is certainly not unique to this movie…

I recently read a provocative piece in the Washington Post entitled, For Black Men Who Have Considered Homicide after Watching another Tyler Perry Movie…

In it, writer Courtland Milloy takes Hollywood and Perry to task for producing yet another film in which black males, in his words, are portrayed as “Satan’s gift to black women…”

And he didn’t stop there, Jay… Referencing a review from blackamericaweb.com stating that Perry’s movie quote-unquote, “will move you,” an unimpressed Milloy responded, “So will ex-lax.”

Needless to say, Milloy, like many brothers and sisters, are tired of the depiction of sociopathic black images on the big screen…

However, others argue that such depictions in Precious and For Colored Girls are examples of ‘creative or artistic expression’ not designed to condemn a whole race of males, but rather are situational depictions of black female protagonists dealing with, working through, and even triumphing over some serious problems…

But you know what, Tom? I actually think there is some fertile middle ground in this… cuz believe it or not, both sides are right…

Given Hollywood’s troubling and ongoing record of presenting negative Black male stereotypes, brothers –and concerned sisters as well– have every right to feel the way they do whenever a movie comes out portraying black people so negatively…

And as black women, we should be especially sensitive to this given Hollywood’s similar treatment of the black female over the years, from mammies to prostitutes to drug addicts to poor, single mothers pissed at the ‘no-good’ black man who left them…

Still, this acknowledged, there always has to be room for creative expression… There are negative people and negative situations that occur in life, and using art to represent such situations in compelling or provocative ways certainly has, and should have its place…

So its not as if such works should not exist… rather, it’s the disturbing lack of balance in the images being produced…

Let me give a quick analogy using Hip Hop… I know enough about Hip Hop to recall that, back in the 80s during its “Glory Days,” for every ‘negative’ artist, you had a bunch of positive or socially conscious counterparts including the likes of Public Enemy, KRS-One, Sista Souljah, Queen Latifah, and the list goes on and on…

Sadly, we no longer have that kind of balance in mainstream rap music… and it is a balance that has never existed in Hollywood…

If it did exist, then we likely wouldn’t even be discussing this issue right now because we’d actually have the luxury of understanding that For Colored Girls is just one work that we could actually judge on its artistic merit alone…

But, unfortunately, we cannot divorce it — or, for that matter, any other comparable work of art — from the industry, the history, or the larger society around it…

In a nutshell … If the movie speaks to you in a compelling way, that’s certainly a good thing… But that doesn’t mean this should close your mind, eyes and sensitivities to the very real lack of media balance impacting the very real society about us…

And this is important to know, Tom, since, as the saying goes, “Our self image, strongly held, essentially determines what we become.”

Until Next Time, this is Stephanie in Love and Hope.

Tom, as you may remember, a couple weeks ago, I did a commentary on the Johannes Mehserle case –the cop who killed an unarmed Oscar Grant in Oakland in 2009 – just days before his controversial verdict of “involuntary manslaughter” was announced …

I also wrote a piece this weekend for NewsOne called, “How Much is One Black Man Worth?”

The article juxtaposed the Mehserle verdict with the almost simultaneous announcement of LeBron James move to Miami, and shades of that were, of course, echoed by Jeff on Tuesday…

…except I didn’t go after Rev. Jackson… That part is between Jeff and Jesse, and I love them both…

My article discussed the irony of how our American society had pretty much determined that one young man’s life –that of Grant– was apparently worth very little, while another young brother who dribbles an orange ball up and down a court –‘King James’– was apparently worth about 100 million…

The article became the most popular piece and went viral on the site not long after I wrote it and generated a whole lot of discussion . . .

I think it struck a chord because folks were troubled by the verdict and the ironic timing of the announcements…

…also because, as a community, we are sick and tired of seeing unarmed black men being killed or brutalized at the hands of those who are supposed “to protect and serve…”

It raises the question: How much is one black man (one black man’s life) actually worth…?

I bring this up again today, Sybil, because of the recent report on Black America Web about another unfortunate young brother –an 18 year-old from Stafford County, VA who suffers from Aspergers Syndrome, a form of autism affecting his ability to communicate and interact.  That young man, Reginald Latson was incarcerated after an incident in which police approached him while walking down the street to a friend’s house.

Reginald was waiting for a local library to open when he decided to take a walk to visit a friend… Police say someone called in to report a quote-unquote “suspicious man” in the area who “was possibly carrying a gun…”

Police approached the autistic teenager, who possessed no weapon, and, according to police, a confrontation ensued in which the teen attacked an officer for no reason…

Reginald reported that the officers came at him with abusive language and racial slurs…

Now, Jay, I obviously wasn’t there and I don’t know what actually went down…

That said, there are still some very troubling things about this case …

First, it’s hard to figure out the “possibly carrying a gun” thing… That’s pretty vague… and “convenient”

And while Reginald was initially placed in a hospital for evaluation after the incident, the judge in the case –who could have granted an extension after the thirty days– recently decided to instead send Reginald to jail where the autistic teen is in an unfamiliar and potentially dangerous environment…

It’s reported that Reginald had made great strides in dealing with his condition, holding a job at a car wash and attending school…

He’s not used to being away from his mother and he’s terrified in jail.  In fact, doctors had recommended to the court that because of his condition, Reginald be allowed to stay at the hospital until his July 30th preliminary hearing.

But let me be clear: I can’t say if law enforcement did anything wrong in this case, but I can say that jailing this young man who obviously needs support for his condition may destroy his life…

Tom, maybe somehow we can help this living black man before his life is destroyed because of his unfortunate encounter with law enforcement…

And while we await the results of the recently-opened federal probe into the Grant shooting, and the sentencing of Johannes Mehserle, let’s use our energies to ensure our young men are being valued and not dying or languishing needlessly at the hands of our less-than-blind system of justice…

You can go to the “Justice for Reginald Latson” page on Facebook for updates and to see what can be done…

I leave you with this quote from an ancient philosopher that still holds true today: “Justice will not come until those who are not injured are as indignant as those who are.”

Until Next Time, this is Stephanie in Love and Hope.