[Ppnews] Political Prisoner Eddie Conway Speaks to Ujaama

Political Prisoner News ppnews at freedomarchives.org
Tue Oct 26 13:44:25 EDT 2010



Political Prisoner Eddie Conway Speaks to Ujaama

http://cornellsun.com/section/news/content/2010/10/25/political-prisoner-eddie-conway-speaks-ujaama
October 25, 2010
<http://cornellsun.com/users/lawrence-lan>By 
<http://cornellsun.com/users/lawrence-lan>Lawrence Lan [8]

via Nattyreb

Political prisoner and former Black Panther Marshall "Eddie" Conway 
spoke via telephone to an attentive crowd of students, staff, and 
faculty to spark Sunday evening's Ujamaa Unity Hour discussion on 
prisons and their impact on the African-American community.

Conway, who is currently serving the 40th year of his life sentence 
at Jessup Correctional Insitution in Maryland, touched on the 
prison-industrial complex as it manifests in Maryland, where the 
majority of prisons are located in rural areas characterized by 
predominantly white populations. He also discussed his work in 
creating a mentoring program that emphasizes the need for positive 
role models in the Maryland prison system's youth population.

Prof. Margaret Washington, history, contributed scholarly analysis to 
Conway's lived experience, citing large increases in the 
incarceration rates of African American males in the United States 
since 1980. She also stressed the fact that the notion of economic 
labor cannot be divorced from that of incarceration.

"With the current [economic] situation being what it is, African 
Americans are no longer needed as laborers. When a huge population 
that has always served as labor no longer serves that function, what 
do you do with the surplus labor?" Washington said. "From an economic 
perspective, prison is a form of slavery, or you can say it's a form 
of concentration camp."

The historical context provided the framework for Prof. Mary 
Katzenstein, government, to contest the notion that prisons offer 
local benefits to their surrounding communities in the form of 
employment opportunities. She cited the example of Five Points 
Correctional Facility, saying that high-paying prison jobs discourage 
the predominantly white local population from pursuing higher education.

Speaking to the perception that prison successfully rehabilitates 
inmates, Katzenstein pointed out that people who spend long periods 
of time in prison exhibit the lowest rates of recidivism, while those 
who spend brief periods of time in prison most commonly become repeat 
offenders.

Jim Schechter, executive director of the Cornell Prison Education 
Program, added to the discussion, noting the strides that the program 
has made at Auburn Correctional Facility and Cayuga Correction 
Facility since its inception, especially for the prisoners. The 
program provides a pathway to an Associate of Arts degree for men 
incarcerated at the Auburn and Cayuga Correctional Facilities.

"[The Cornell Prison Education Program] contributes to people's 
self-esteem in what we all recognize is an otherwise dehumanizing 
environment," he said, adding that the classroom functions as a 
"sanctuary" from the rest of the prison experience.Cornell faculty 
who participate in the program report a higher level of engagement 
from the inmates than from Cornell students, according to Schechter.

"There's no sense of entitlement, no Blackberries, no laptops," 
Schechter said. "The students at Auburn come to class having done the 
readings two, maybe three, times."

Janet Nwaukoni '12, president of Project Lansing, and Adam Baratz 
'11, president of Art Beyond Cornell, explained the work their 
organizations do on campus to immediately address the needs of 
prisons near Ithaca.

Members of Project Lansing interact weekly with young females at 
Lansing Residential Center to build mentorships and friendships that 
foster intellectual and personal growth. Members of Art Beyond 
Cornell bring weekly art lessons to Lansing Residential Center and 
MacCormick Secure Center to offer a means of expression and growth 
for the institutionalized youth.

"We want these young women [at Lansing Residential Center] to know 
that there are African American females who come from similar 
backgrounds and that it's possible to succeed," Nwaukoni said.

"These facilities are extraordinarily understaffed, and Cornell has 
such a vast array of resources to help fill that void," Baratz said. 
"The work we do is really important because the youth there really 
look forward to it each week."

Ken Glover, residence hall director of Schuyler House and former 
residence hall director of Ujamaa, identified flaws with the prison system.

"If you wanted to change the rates of recidivism, you'd require 
[inmates] to get a GED," Glover said, referring to a statistic 
mentioned by Schechter that approximately 250 out of 1,800 inmates at 
Auburn Correctional Facility have GEDs or high school diplomas. "How 
can you support your kids [when you get out of prison] if you can't 
get a GED and you can't get a job?"

He also brought the discussion back to Conway and the issue of 
political prisoners.

"The question of political prisoners goes beyond the context of the 
United States," Glover said, citing notable political prisoners 
including Nelson Mandela, Mumia Abu-Jamal, and Patrice Lumumba. 
"Whenever there's been a movement for social change, people who speak 
out [for change] are imprisoned."

"The discussion revealed how prevalent the incarceration system is 
just in upstate New York," Khamila Alebiosu '13 said. "While we like 
to stay within the Cornell bubble, there's so much we can do to reach 
out and change this system that has dehumanized and degraded people 
that have come largely from the African American community."

Theoria Cason, the residence hall director of Ujamaa, found the 
discussion informative and saw hope in the various Cornell programs 
that try to address needs of institutionalized people in local facilities.

"This discussion helped me recognize the dissonance that exists 
between Ithaca and the facilities that lie just 20 minutes down the 
road," she said. "I really appreciate the work that is being done in 
the immediate areas around Ithaca."

The discussion, entitled "Prisons and Race: The Impact On Our 
Community," was organized by Black Students United.




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