Atlanta Daily World
The Changing Demographics of Mass Incarceration
ATLANTA DAILY WORLD NEWS — The SPLC and many other advocates have shed light on how the criminal justice system criminalizes the poor and people of color and incarcerates them at disproportionate rates to feed what’s been called the “prison industrial complex.” As the societal cost of mass incarceration has become clear, even conservative lawmakers in the Deep South have begun to embrace change. Last year, Congress overwhelmingly passed modest, bipartisan reforms.
By ADW News
After decades of constructing a system of mass incarceration, it appears that our nation is beginning to turn the tide.
Some of the Deep South states that incarcerate the highest percentage of their residents – like Louisiana, Georgia and Mississippi – have enacted reforms that are beginning to bring down their prison populations. At the same time, the federal prison population has decreased by 40,000 since peaking at 219,000 in 2013.
But it’s just a beginning. It will take much more reform to end the era of mass incarceration. It’s a period that began in the early 1970s – just after the civil rights movement – when President Richard Nixon declared a “war on drugs” following a “law and order” presidential campaign calculated to appeal to white anxieties about the changing social order.
In the four decades that followed, the nation’s incarceration rate more than quadrupled, making the United States the world leader, by far, in the percentage of its residents behind bars. The prison and jail population rose seven-fold during this period, reaching 2.23 million by 2012.
The SPLC and many other advocates have shed light on how the criminal justice system criminalizes the poor and people of color and incarcerates them at disproportionate rates to feed what’s been called the “prison industrial complex.” As the societal cost of mass incarceration has become clear, even conservative lawmakers in the Deep South have begun to embrace change. Last year, Congress overwhelmingly passed modest, bipartisan reforms.
Now, however, this progress is endangered by President Donald Trump, who is intent on filling up the nation’s jails and prisons with immigrants.
For the first time in U.S. history, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is detaining more than 50,000 people each day, at a cost of at least $7.4 billion annually. Over the past year, ICE has consistently incarcerated more people than the limit set by Congress, currently about 46,000.
These immigrants are held in jails and prisons, often in brutal conditions, even though the charges they’re facing are civil, not criminal. Many are simply asylum seekers who have every right to seek refuge in the United States.
Trump’s policies have been a panacea for the private prison industry, which was losing contracts after years of poor results, inhumane conditions and no cost savings.
In 2016, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that the federal Bureau of Prisons would phase out its contracts with private companies, though the policy exempted ICE facilities. That same day, the stock prices of GEO Group and CoreCivic, the two leading prison companies, fell by 39 and 35 percent, respectively.
Then, Trump came along. A day after the election, CoreCivic’s stock soared by 43 percent. GEO’s was up 30 percent within a week.
There was good reason for their investors’ optimism.
Less than a week into the Trump administration, Attorney General Jeff Sessions reversed the Obama policy. Then Trump unleashed ICE to begin sweeping up immigrants across the country and sending them to remote prisons, mostly operated by private companies. Later on, he implemented asylum policies that resulted in long stays in detention for thousands of people who present themselves at the border.
ICE has long relied, to at least some extent, on for-profit companies to incarcerate immigrants. But that reliance has accelerated in recent years and grown more under Trump.
In 2009, according to the Migration Policy Institute, 68 percent of immigrant detainees were held in state and local jails under contract with ICE. But by 2015, the prison industry was operating nine out of the 10 largest ICE detention centers, and it accounted for 62 percent of detainee beds.
Today, the industry houses 73 percent of detained immigrants.
This is all good news for CoreCivic and GEO Group, which collectively manage half of the private prison contracts in the country.
Both groups have spent millions of dollars in federal lobbying over the past two decades, and both invested heavily in cementing their relationship with the Trump administration. In 2016, a GEO Group subsidiary donated $225,000 to a pro-Trump super PAC. Each company gave $250,000 to Trump’s unaccountable inauguration fund.
Meanwhile, years of research has demonstrated that conditions in privately run facilities are substantially worse than in public ones, because their sole aim is to maximize profit, leading to dangerous under-staffing and negligent health care.
The SPLC is, in fact, suing CoreCivic for its illegal and inhumane practice of forcing detained immigrants to work for as little as $1 a day at its Stewart Detention Facility in Lumpkin, Georgia, just so they can pay for basic necessities they must purchase from the prison’s commissaries.
Through its Southeast Immigrant Freedom Initiative, the SPLC is representing immigrants who are being detained in remote prisons in the Deep South and is suing the Trump administration across numerous fronts to hold it accountable for its abuses.
But, with its immigration enforcement and incarceration policies, the administration seems to be doing everything it can to keep the prison industrial complex alive and thriving.
SPLC’s Weekend Reads are a weekly summary of the most important reporting and commentary from around the country on civil rights, economic and racial inequity, and hate and extremism.
This article originally appeared in the Atlanta Daily News.
Atlanta Daily World
Rest In Power: The Black stars we lost in 2023
ATLANTA DAILY WORLD — Regardless of how these people left this world, one thing was for certain: they were loved. This is dedicated to the Black stars we lost in 2023.
Atlanta Daily World
This year has seen a lot of highs and a lot of lows for celebrities and their fanbases, but nothing can compare to when high-profile figures pass away. 2023 in particular marked the deaths of some of the extremely influential Black actors, musicians, sports stars, activists, politicians, and other notable figures. Some of these stellar individuals have left behind a long-lasting legacy, while others were taken just as they were making waves in their respective scenes.
Regardless of how these people left this world, one thing was for certain: they were loved. This is dedicated to the Black stars we lost in 2023.
Tina Turner
Jacky Oh!
Harry Belafonte
Lance Reddick
Ray Lewis III
Andre Braugher
DJ Casper
Hughes Van Ellis
Zoleka Mandela
Clark Haggans
Richard Roundtree
Magoo
Cedric ‘Beastie’ Jones
Irish Grinstead
Sheila Oliver
Tasha Butts
Brandon Hunter
Elise Finch
Willis Reed
Clarence Avant
Mike Williams
Mutulu Shakur
DJ Mark The 45 King
Rudolph Isley
Dopeboy Ra / Young Capone
Grace Bumbry
C.J. Harris
Gangsta Boo
James Ingram
Kristoff St. John
Danielle Ballard
The Black Information Network is your source for Black News! Get the latest news 24/7 on The Black Information Network. Listen now on the iHeartRadio app or click HERE to tune in live.
The post Rest In Power: The Black stars we lost in 2023 appeared first on Atlanta Daily World.
Atlanta Daily World
COMMENTARY: Soul Stealers… Let’s be Honest — College Football is a Business, with Money Everywhere
ATLANTA DAILY WORLD — On September 12, 1970, USC fullback Sam Cunningham and the USC Trojans routed the University of Alabama at Legion Field in Birmingham by the score of 42-21. The following year Alabama Head Coach, Paul “Bear” Bryant, featured two Black players, junior college transfer John Mitchell and Wilbur Jackson. According to Mike Puma’s biography of Bryant on ESPN.com “By 1973, one-third of Alabama’s starters were Black. That same year, Alabama went 9-0-1 and won its third national championship.” Segregation forever, yeah right. Alabama admitted Black players under “diluted” scholarships knowing that educating these athletes was at the very bottom of their list of priorities. It would take decades before the University of Alabama would tailor their student body admission policies for racial inclusion.
By Aubrey Bruce | Atlanta Daily World
I must begin this column by putting all the readers on high alert because this is not, nor do I intend it to be, a Black History moment. This piece is strictly dedicated to Black sports reality. On June 11, 2023, author Debra Bell posted an article on usnews.com titled: “George Wallace Stood in a Doorway at the University of Alabama 50 Years Ago Today.” The following quote is an excerpt from the article.
“In January of 1963, following his election as Governor of Alabama, George Wallace famously stated in his inaugural address: ‘segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever.’ The staunch conservative demonstrated his loyalty to the cause on June 11, 1963, when black students Vivian Malone and James A. Hood showed up at the University of Alabama campus in Tuscaloosa to attend class. In what historians often refer to as the ‘Stand in the Schoolhouse Door,’ the governor literally stood in the doorway as federal authorities tried to allow the students to enter.”
On September 12, 1970, USC fullback Sam Cunningham and the USC Trojans routed the University of Alabama at Legion Field in Birmingham by the score of 42-21. The following year Alabama Head Coach, Paul “Bear” Bryant, featured two Black players, junior college transfer John Mitchell and Wilbur Jackson. According to Mike Puma’s biography of Bryant on ESPN.com “By 1973, one-third of Alabama’s starters were Black. That same year, Alabama went 9-0-1 and won its third national championship.”
Segregation forever, yeah right. Alabama admitted Black players under “diluted” scholarships knowing that educating these athletes was at the very bottom of their list of priorities. It would take decades before the University of Alabama would tailor their student body admission policies for racial inclusion.
Since the Emancipation Proclamation was signed by President Abe Lincoln, young men of color and their families could no longer “legally” be expected to provide free labor in the cotton fields, the new modus operandi shifted to obtaining cost-free labor from the football fields. The NCAA became the new “overseer” making and supervising laws to penalize young athletes for receiving such petty allowances as a free meal, a plane ticket, or a lousy T-shirt. However, the NCAA refused to acknowledge and address the “unsportsmanlike conduct” of many of the “ethnically insensitive” and even blatantly racist policies that have at times and in many cases continued to govern college football. On October 15, 2018, the college portal transfer program was officially launched, ending the decades-old tradition of a college athlete being forced to sit out a year before being permitted to transfer to another school. However, coaches were allowed to resign and accept higher-paid and more lucrative positions at other colleges and universities without even the blink of an eye. On June 30, 2021, ESPN staff writer Dan Murphy posted the following on espn.com. “The doors to a new era of college sports officially opened Thursday. For the first time, all NCAA athletes are now able to make money from a wide variety of business ventures without losing their eligibility. A mixture of state laws and NCAA rule changes have removed prohibitions that prevented athletes from selling the rights to their names, images and likenesses (NIL). The transformative shift comes after more than a decade of legal, political, and public pressure to give athletes access to a bigger piece of the billions of dollars generated by college sports each year.”
What about a piece of the “Vegas Pie?” Ya know, “FanDuel” and the remainder of the numbers runners.
That means less than five years ago, if a college athlete accepted a plane ticket to go home for the holidays, that athlete could be punished or even expelled from that university. That policy was and has always been a crock. Please allow me to explain why.
Recently, Texas A&M Coach Jimbo Fisher was awarded a $77 million buyout for his “lack of performance” as the head coach. It was also reported on cnn.com that: “When Fisher was first named head football coach at Texas A&M in 2017, the university said he had agreed to a 10-year contract worth $75 million, adding no ‘state-appropriated funds’ would be used toward his salary. The finances behind the decision to fire the coach are ‘monumental,’ Ross Bjork, Texas A&M director of athletics, said during a news conference. ‘As the contract states, there is a buyout provision in coach Fisher’s contract and those details will be worked out,’ Bjork continued on saying: ‘We will use unrestricted contributions within the 12th Man Foundation for the first one-time payments and the athletic department will fund the annual payments for the remaining portion by growing our revenues and adjusting our annual operating budget accordingly.’ 12th Man Foundation may appear to be a not-for-profit organization. This is not the case.”
This next scenario is not a fantasy but a stark reality. Jimbo Fisher is being paid for not doing his job, whereas walk-on players must earn their scholarships. This man is being paid to sit in the back of his mansion by the pool, sipping on mint juleps, while checking his bank account and watching the interest grow on that $77 million. A lot of folks are screaming at the top of their lungs about welfare reform. How about corporate welfare reform? Who is going to emancipate our children from this indentured servant athletic system? Well, I guess we are going to have to wait and see.
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Atlanta Daily World
IN MEMORIAM: Georgia Teen Dies One Day Before His Team Plays State Championship Game At Mercedes-Benz Stadium In Atlanta
ATLANTA DAILY WORLD — Smith was initially reported as missing on Saturday in his hometown Manchester, Georgia, according to authorities. He was found deceased on Sunday evening. Details surrounding his passing has yet to be released as the investigation contiues.
By A.R. Shaw, Executive Editor, Atlanta Daily World
Brandon Smith was one day away from playing the biggest game of his high school football career. But on the eve of the big game, the 17-year-old Meriwether County football was found dead.
Smith was initially reported as missing on Saturday in his hometown Manchester, Georgia, according to authorities. He was found deceased on Sunday evening. Details surrounding his passing has yet to be released as the investigation contiues.
Smith was a defensive lineman for the Meriwether County football team. Tonight, the team will face-off against Bowdon High School at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. The teams will compete for Georgia’s 1-A State Football Championship.
Following Smith’s passing, Superintendent Dr. Robert A. Griffin and Principal Mrs. Suze Neal released a joint statement.
“We are heartbroken to hear the news of the tragic and untimely death of one of our student-athletes, Brandon Smith. Manchester High School’s Celebration of playing for the Georgia Division 1-A State Football Championship has unfortunately turned into something none of us could have fathomed.
The circumstances behind this tragedy are still being investigated and will be shared publicly by local authorities.
We continue to pray for Brandon’s family, friends, teammates, and classmates. Manchester High School will have mental health support available starting on Monday morning. Brandon was a loyal teammate and friend who excelled on and off the field. He will be deeply missed.”
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Atlanta Daily World
André 3000 Reveals What It Would Take For Him To Release Another Rap Album
ATLANTA DAILY WORLD — “When people ask me about a rap album, ‘Man, I would love a rap album, I’m with you,’” he said. “But it’s like, I want to be with you when I’m really on it.” He continued, “Maybe I haven’t found a music that’s inspiring enough for me to want to write raps to. Maybe I gotta find a new way to rap.”
A.R. Shaw, Executive Editor
André 3000’s caught most of his core fans after releasing his first solo project, “New Blue Sun.”
But while fans of André 3000 have anticipated this moment for years, it’s not a conventional rap album. The project does not feature rhymes, beats, or lyrical melodies. It’s a musical journey of André 3000 playing contrabass flute, Mayan flutes, bamboo flutes and other digital wind instruments.
During a recent interview with CBS News, the Atlanta-raised artist spoke about his ordeal with rapping during this period of his life.
“Like I’m 48 now,” he said. “I think like the older you get, you kind of get this skin or this…protective layer that’s like…things kind of roll off or you better because you have a better understanding of the rollercoaster in a way.”
He continued, “I don’t sit and try to rap every day like when I was younger, and that’s all I did when I was younger. I miss those times a lot, but it’s like: life changes, life moves on.”
André 3000 also spoke about the possibilities of creating another rap album and what it would it take.
“When people ask me about a rap album, ‘Man, I would love a rap album, I’m with you,’” he said. “But it’s like, I want to be with you when I’m really on it.”
He continued, “Maybe I haven’t found a music that’s inspiring enough for me to want to write raps to. Maybe I gotta find a new way to rap.”
Overall, André 3000 seeks to find new ways to be inspired creatively.
“Maybe I exhausted a thing,” he said. “And sometimes you have to kind of try something else.”
In its first week, “New Blue Sun” debuted at No. 1 on Billboard New Age Albums chart and No. 5 on the Top Alternative Albums chart.
The post André 3000 Reveals What It Would Take For Him To Release Another Rap Album appeared first on Atlanta Daily World.
A Milwaukee County deputy was caught on video punching a 17-year-old girl, per CBS 58.
The incident unfolded on Sunday (October 22) when Envy Hampton, 17, and her friends Keviona Brown and Alivia Jee visited the Milwaukee County Zoo.
“We wanted to go have fun and go home and it was just a problem after that,” Jee said.
As they were leaving the zoo, the friends said they were surrounded by deputies. Hampton’s sister, Nayah Dowell, 26, who came to pick up the group from the zoo, was pulled out of her vehicle by deputies, the friends said. Video shows Brown screaming as she attempted to pull Dowell back into the car.
At one point during the encounter, Brown said she saw Hampton being struck by an officer on the ground.
“I only recorded him hitting her three times in the video but before I started the video, he was already striking her,” Brown said.
The Milwaukee County sheriff’s office said the video, which has gone viral on social media, doesn’t paint the full picture. According to the sheriff’s office, deputies were called to the entrance of the zoo for a reported fight, which they didn’t see.
The friends said there was a verbal disagreement within the group but the altercation never turned physical. When Dowell arrived to pick up the group, the older sister said she was met with hostility from police. She declined to show her I.D. when asked and claims she wasn’t told about the reported fight.
According to the Sheriff’s Department, body camera footage shows the people in the vehicle weren’t cooperative. The department alleged that Hampton shoved and hit a deputy with a closed fist. That’s when the deputy used force to handcuff Hampton and take her into custody, the department said.
The friend group said Hampton swung at police but missed.
Hampton and her sister were arrested the night of the incident. Hampton is facing charges including Battery of a Law Enforcement officer. Her bail was set at over $5,000, according to her family.
The Black Information Network is your source for Black News! Get the latest news 24/7 on The Black Information Network. Listen now on the iHeartRadio app or click HERE to tune in live.
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Actor and boxer Cedric ‘Beastie’ Jones has died, per People. He was 46.
On Sunday (October 22), Jones’ boxing gym announced that the founder had died on October 16.
“It is with a heavy heart that we announce the passing of Beastie Boxing Gym Founder, Cedric ‘Beastie’ Jones,” his company said in a statement. “Cedric was a loving father, devoted husband, caring son, brother, community leader, and incredible friend who inspired others. He genuinely wanted everyone to become the best version of themselves. He was a gift. Cedric had dedicated his life to helping people in and out of the gym.”
Jones was someone who “inspired and helped people achieve what they previously thought impossible,” the statement added.
The 46-year-old was also known for his roles in Emancipation, starring Will Smith, The Terminal List, The Magnificent Seven, Southpaw, Princess of the Row, and Marshall County.
Emancipation director Antoine Fuqua posted a tribute to Jones on social media following his death.
“R.I.P to my good brother and friend. You were always the light in the room and on the set,” Fuqua wrote on Instagram alongside a video of Jones praying. “You will be deeply missed and forever loved. MAY THE WIND ALWAYS BE UNDER YOUR WINGS CHAMP as you ascend into the Heavens. Dream team forever🙏🏿💪🏿✊🏿.”
Jones is survived by his wife, Barbie Jones, and their children, Brooklyn, Braxton, and Bryston. A GoFundMe page was started to raise money to support the family.
Jones’ cause of death remains unknown.
The Black Information Network is your source for Black News! Get the latest news 24/7 on The Black Information Network. Listen now on the iHeartRadio app or click HERE to tune in live.
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