MAPTalk-Digest Tuesday, April 16 2013 Volume 13 : Number 011
001 Celebrities ask Obama to end war on drugs
From:
002 June 17 2013 Wash DC drug war protest
From:
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Subj: 001 Celebrities ask Obama to end war on drugs
From:
Date: Tue, 9 Apr 2013 21:59:23 -0700
Celebrities ask Obama to end war on drugs
http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/2013/04/09/celebrities_ask_obama_
and check out the signatures on the letter:
http://globalgrind.com/endthewarondrugs/
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Subj: 002 June 17 2013 Wash DC drug war protest
From:
Date: Tue, 16 Apr 2013 21:54:55 -0700
I sincerely hope that all veteran and DPR orgs will join this. Please ask
any orgs to which you may belong, to join this important action. Unless we
lterally light a fire under this President's ass, he will continue to sit
on his hands, ignoring the drug war for another 3 years.
President Obama halt the 'war on drugs,' and war on Blacks, says coalition
http://www.finalcall.com/artman/publish/National_News_2/article_9744.s
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The criminal justice component of the day of action is important because
the War on Drugs has exploded the numbers of incarcerated persons,
creating millions more young people with felony convictions on their
records, making them virtually unemployable. “It’s like we’re still
serving time,” Courtney Stewart, leader of The Reentry Network for
Returning Citizens told reporters.
“Approximately 10 percent of the District of Columbia population has had
some involvement with the criminal justice system, many of them were
previously incarcerated for non-violent and minor offenses, yet they face
tremendous difficulties in rebuilding their lives when returning home to
the community,” he said.
It can typically take from nine months to two years before a formerly
incarcerated person can find employment, Mr. Stewart pointed out. During
that period as many as half of those who were incarcerated will return to
jail during a period of prolonged joblessness and dependence on family for
support. Mr. Stewart recalls actually sleeping on his mother’s floor for
months after returning from D.C.’s Lorton Reformatory in 1985.
“For far too long, this nation has ignored the myriad crises in urban,
inner-city neighborhoods, choosing instead to substitute paramilitary
policing tactics like stop-and-frisk, tougher sentencing, and mass
incarceration for social, economic and racial justice,” Dr. Daniels
continued.
“Black people marched on ballot boxes in overwhelming numbers to ensure
the re-election of President Obama. Now it is time for the president to
directly respond to the state of emergency in America’s dark ghettos by
having the audacity to end the War on Drugs and vigorously promote
investment in jobs, economic and social programs to heal Black families
and communities.”
The day of action’s coalition is calling on President Obama to: issue an
executive order terminating the War on Drugs and replacing it with a
national initiative that treats drugs and drug addiction as a public
health issue; issue an executive order ending the practice of using
incarcerated persons as prison labor; and intensify efforts to eliminate
the disparity in sentencing between powdered cocaine—for which most
offenders are White—and crack cocaine, for which most offenders are Black.
- -snip-
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End of MAPTalk-Digest V13 #11
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