RANDY SHORT: There is no faster route to the heart of the black men of America than through a sincere recognition of the degree to which the US prison system is used as a profit center with black men (and increasingly poor white youth) as the “animals” being processed without mercy. To win the hearts and minds of black men, President Donald Trump can do three things:
01 Pardon 12 specific black men associated with political incarceration.
02 Push back on the degree to which black men have been monetized by the criminal criminal justice system, not only in major cities but in small towns across America.
03 Commit to major investments in the inner cities (mostly black) as well as the impoverished rural areas mostly in the South.
I want two black men pardoned post-mortem as a matter of principle:
- Marcus Garvey
- Roosevelt Tatum
Living friends of mine who should be pardoned by the President immediately, without delay, before November 2018:
- Abraham Bolden
- Kenneth Wayne Ford, Jr.
- Larry Pinkney
- Pete O”Neal
- Jeffry Sterling
A call to the black population for nominations, adding another five names, would be a gesture of contrition and dialog of the greatest symbolism and power.
A Presidential Commission reviewing the totality of the black prison population (but ideally also reviewing the totality of all prisoners) would be a healing process of great and lasting significance.
Below are references that resonate with every person of color:
- The 16 Black Panthers Still Behind Bars
- From Mumia to Peltier, US Political Prisoners Still Locked Up
- Political Prisoners in the USA
- The 19 black radicals who are still in prison after four decades
- The Black Panthers still in prison After 46 years, will they ever be set free?
By way of historical context, I want to add that the felony convictions in America that have their origins in the Black Codes of the Reconstruction South violate Articles 2 and 11 of the 1965 Voting Rights Act and effectively deny millions of right to have representation because they are subject to taxation. Furthermore, former victims of the cruel and unusual punishment of mass incarceration for largely nonviolent and victimless crimes ( e.g. cannabis petty possession) are the natural allies to the republican values of one-citizen-one-vote, and they have a vested stake in supporting candidates that are for the working majority and opposed to the Prison-Industrial Complex's Lobby which, presently and ominously, is at its apex of power and influence in American life.
References on Felon Disenfranchisement (Predominantly Black):
- Number of People by State Who Cannot Vote Due to a Felony Conviction
- Felon Disenfranchisement (Prison Policy Initiative)
- The ‘Slave Power' Behind Florida's Felon Disenfranchisement
- Racism & Felony Disenfranchisement: An Intertwined History
Mr. President — We the Black People of America are reaching out to you. Take our hand, together we can Make America Great — ALL America.
ROBERT STEELE: Everything I am reading suggests that the black community is now recognizing Barack Obama for the fraud that he was and remains — the Manchurian candidate whose white half served and continues to serve the Rothschilds (Obama is said to be in DC still because the Rothchilds want him here, having not realized that Obama would be neutered in his post-presidency). If Herman Cain, Cynthia McKinney, Kyle West, and Zilli Danto, , among others, can be empowered by the President, the black male vote as a whole, and much of the black female vote, can be won over. It would of course help if the President had a Truth Channel and sponsored #UNRIG the Electoral Reform Act (12 specifics shown below, note that the first includes prisoners retaining the right to vote). One person one vote — denied by the Deep State, possible under President Donald Trump.
CYNTHIA MCKINNEY: Since Dr. Short mentions the monetization of the criminal justice system, I would add a reference (Ref A below) with respect to how the US criminal justice system is also rigged for average citizens, especially youth. Unfortunately, throughout this country, our justice system for them is also a swamp. The extent to which President Trump acts—by executive order and with proposed legislation—to allow those who have rightly or wrongly been incarcerated, to re-enter society as productive citizens would go a long way toward tipping the scales back toward justice for the rest of us and toward draining the swamp for all of us. Evidence that the criminal justice swamp is a swamp was recently revealed by a Santa Clara University School of Law study (Ref B) that found an unacceptable amount of prosecutorial misconduct in US administration of justice. MAGA is compromised because, today, all able citizens are not afforded the ability to reach their full potential because of the dreaded “box” that follows them for the rest of their lives if they have gone through the criminal justice system–even as a teenager (Ref C). Thus, I fully endorse Dr. Short’s powerful suggestion so that for all Americans, the system is unrigged and the swamp is drained.
References (Cynthia McKinney):
A Judges Plead Guilty in Scheme to Jail Youths for Profit
B Prosecutorial Oversight: A National Dialog in the Wake of Connick v. Thompson
C Georgia Tech pulls job offer because applicant committed felonies as teen
See Especially:
See Also:
Cynthia McKinney @ Phi Beta Iota
