The article Mass Incarceration: The Whole Pie 2020, was my favorite read. I am a fan of Peter Wagner, and his work. This article was very informative, and powerfully gives the disturbingly realistic deeper dive behind the scenes look at the data of mass incarceration, and some of the controlling factors that overdrive US mass incarceration. I am very aware of these left out of the conversation key topics. Many of my “WOW” moments, are the same that I advocate and bring awareness to such as;
• Mass incarceration is driven by the ever growing population of people held in pretrial custody.
• Individuals held in pretrial detention, are legally innocent, and have NOT been convicted.
• The PIC financially benefits from the warehousing of people, the commissary vendors and phone service providers continue to profit off the mass incarceration of individuals.
• In order to start reducing the prison population, we must look at a larger solution aside from ending the war on drugs, such as changing tough on crime laws through legislation like removing enhancements, ending felony murder rule, the overcriminilization of crimes under the Federal sentencing guidelines.
• Minor “technical violations” of people on probation and parole, and the “no bail holds” placed upon them, which offers no alternatives to being jailed. Probation/parole violations could be as minimal as not reporting, or not passing a drug test.
If we want to drastically reduce our jails, prisons, detention centers, and other forms of carceral settings, we must not only take into account this reporting, we must also take action and think beyond low level non violent crimes, violent and other crimes must be included in this conversation.
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Hope is a Discipline, left me with the raw truth; police do not make our communities safer! Police cause harm, including murder behind qualified immunity. The bottom line for me here, is simply to DEFUND THE POLICE. It is possible, it’s being done in other states, and here in Los Angeles too!
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How to Give an Elevator Pitch was very resourceful. What I identified with most, is that the art of elevator pitching, is also another form of marketing, whether you are seeking employment, or looking for a project to collaborate on, promote yourself! You are your own brand… the possibilities are around us, just a quick pitch away.
