Sixteenth Annual Mid-Hudson Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. March for Social and Economic Justice
Jobs Not Jails came out of the Jan. 17, 2011 Real Majority Project's Sixteenth Annual Mid-Hudson Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. March for Social and Economic Justice at Smith Metropolitan A.M.E. Zion Church in Poughkeepsie.-- with songs/speeches from Rev. Gail Burger of the Dutchess Interfaith Council, Robert Wright of Nubian Directions, Ann Perry, Pat Lamanna, Fred Nagel; Rev. H. Dwight Bolton of Smith Metropolitan A.M.E. Zion Church; Bishop Debra Gause of Holy Light Pentecostal Church; Rev. Ed Muller, founder of the Exodus Transitional Community (Poughkeepsie resident); Rev. Tyler Jones of St. Paul's Church of Poughkeepsie; Rev. Orlanda Brugnola of the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Poughkeepsie; Rev. Rhoon Richards of the Church of the Triumphant Absolute in Poughkeepsie; Larry Mamiya of Vassar College's Green Haven Prison Program! -- plus Earl Brown, Doris Kelly, Fred Bunnell, Wesley Lee. Kudos to Bunnell, Rev. Jones, Rev. Rider re: Dutchess Collaborative Reentry Project; see: http://www.episcopalcharitiesnewyork.org/DutchessCollaborativeReentryProject.htm
One of the main themes of the 2011 MLK march was the launching a new Jobs Not Jails organization -- to stop the drive to force Dutchess County taxpayers to waste tens of millions of dollars on an unnecessary jail expansion -- the proposed Dutchess jail expansion and to pro-actively invest in our human infrastructure instead... So-- put this on your calendars-- every other Sat. from Jan. 29th on at 10:30 a.m. Ann Perry and Joel Tyner will co-host follow-up meetings to the 2011 MLK march -- a "Jobs Not Jails" public forum at the Holy Light Pentecostal Church, at 33 Clover St. in Poughkeepsie to support education and programs that will prevent incarceration, jobs, especially green jobs, and reentry programs -- not more or larger jails.
Recently Luminosity Solutions offered their services to Dutchess County to save costs by safely lowering jail overcrowding. Luminosity has already lowered the jail population by over 20% in the last 18 months at Camden County in New Jersey -- resulting in savings of literally over $9 million a year for taxpayers there; need this here! Dutchess County could also slash recidivism and save tax dollars with truly comprehensive system of re-entry and programming for youth.
http://www.Luminosity-Solutions.com
Newark's Fraternity for Dads Behind Bars has cut the recidivism rate there from 65% to 3%; Brooklyn's ComAlert system and Lancaster County's job court offer cost-saving models as well: http://www.petitiononline.com/comalert http://www.petitiononline.com/jobcourt
The National Institute of Corrections is also willing to conduct, for free, a top-to-bottom assessment for Dutchess County: http://www.NICIC.gov http://www.nicic.gov/Downloads/PDF/Library/023356.pdf http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2032144,00.html
Father Peter Young and Fight Crime: Invest in Kids can help too. http://www.FightCrime.org http://www.PYHIT.com
There's no time like the present to bring back BOCES' GED program into the Dutchess County Jail. This program was endorsed by Jail's leadership because it cut the recidivism rate in half for those participating. And bring back our county Youth Bureau's Project Return program -- juvenile delinquency prevention that effectively kept 45 kids on the right track for only $24/day -- instead of being locked up at $657/day -- and to bring back county funding for the Mediation Center of Dutchess; program for 245 families with troubled teens -- instead of those youth being incarcerated at $240,000/year (our plan would restore -- see http://www.petitiononline.com/cobudget
So join us every other Saturday at 10:30 am -- as Ann Perry and Joel Tyner host "Jobs Not Jails" public forums at Holy Light Pentecostal Church, 33 Clover St. in Poughkeepsie! For further infomation please call: Joel Tyner at 444-0599/876-2488 or email: [email protected] http://www.DutchessDemocracy.blogspot.com . Also contact Theo Harris, [email protected] .
Next Meeting: Sat., Aug. 20 at 9:30 am, with presentation at 11:00 a.m. at Holy Light Pentecostal Church, 33 Clover St., Poughkeepsie.
PS: Many thanks to Earl Brown, Wesley Lee, Ann Perry, Joy Gurewitz, JP Ferraro, Rich Carlson, Mae Parker-Harris, and Jillian Egan for getting the new publication off the ground-- "The New York Progressive" (see http://www.wvhw.net/nyp1
Quotes from Martin Luther King Jr. March on Jan. 18, 2011: Nearly a dozen spoke, sang or played an instrument in honor of King, the only American who was not a U.S. president to have a federal holiday named in his honor. He has been recognized on the third Monday in January since 1986.
"Dr. King stood for civil rights, but he also stood for peace," said Pat Lamanna, a city resident who played acoustic guitar and led the group in song.
Fred Nagel, 67, of Rhinebeck spoke about the impact of words.
"Words can be used for anything - to justify war in Afghanistan, drone attacks," Nagel said. "Our leaders can quote Martin Luther King all they want, but unless they act on those words, they are all pretenders."
Ann Perry, a city resident, emceed the event. "I'm tired. It's cold," Perry said. "If Martin Luther King said that and stayed home and looked out his window or played the Wii, or whatever that game is, we would not be here in this form."
The Rev. Ed Miller, a retired prison chaplain, spoke about the disproportionate incarceration of black males and the privatization of prisons in the U.S.
Miller said anyone interested in the topic should read a book called "The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness," by Michelle Alexander.
Theo Harris, 61, of the Town of Poughkeepsie spoke about King's assassination. "We cannot forget that fateful day in a Tennessee hotel. Where Dr. Martin Luther King, the people's leader, fell," Harris said.
Marilynn Vetrano, executive director of the county Human Rights Commission, spoke about her agency, which is scheduled to close March 31. "We accomplished much," said Vetrano, who noted that the commission took 900 complaints in 2010. "We have a settlement for a young man who was denied a promotion at a major corporation," she said. "I wonder what Dr. Martin Luther King would say about the closing of a human rights commission in any county."
Joel Tyner spoke last. "They just eliminated the GED program at the county jail," he said. "When was that on the front page of any paper? We need to light a fire under the good Democrats and good Republicans to say there are different ways of doing this," he said about a discussed expansion of the Dutchess County Jail.
One of the main themes of the 2011 MLK march was the launching a new Jobs Not Jails organization -- to stop the drive to force Dutchess County taxpayers to waste tens of millions of dollars on an unnecessary jail expansion -- the proposed Dutchess jail expansion and to pro-actively invest in our human infrastructure instead... So-- put this on your calendars-- every other Sat. from Jan. 29th on at 10:30 a.m. Ann Perry and Joel Tyner will co-host follow-up meetings to the 2011 MLK march -- a "Jobs Not Jails" public forum at the Holy Light Pentecostal Church, at 33 Clover St. in Poughkeepsie to support education and programs that will prevent incarceration, jobs, especially green jobs, and reentry programs -- not more or larger jails.
Recently Luminosity Solutions offered their services to Dutchess County to save costs by safely lowering jail overcrowding. Luminosity has already lowered the jail population by over 20% in the last 18 months at Camden County in New Jersey -- resulting in savings of literally over $9 million a year for taxpayers there; need this here! Dutchess County could also slash recidivism and save tax dollars with truly comprehensive system of re-entry and programming for youth.
http://www.Luminosity-Solutions.com
Newark's Fraternity for Dads Behind Bars has cut the recidivism rate there from 65% to 3%; Brooklyn's ComAlert system and Lancaster County's job court offer cost-saving models as well: http://www.petitiononline.com/comalert http://www.petitiononline.com/jobcourt
The National Institute of Corrections is also willing to conduct, for free, a top-to-bottom assessment for Dutchess County: http://www.NICIC.gov http://www.nicic.gov/Downloads/PDF/Library/023356.pdf http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2032144,00.html
Father Peter Young and Fight Crime: Invest in Kids can help too. http://www.FightCrime.org http://www.PYHIT.com
There's no time like the present to bring back BOCES' GED program into the Dutchess County Jail. This program was endorsed by Jail's leadership because it cut the recidivism rate in half for those participating. And bring back our county Youth Bureau's Project Return program -- juvenile delinquency prevention that effectively kept 45 kids on the right track for only $24/day -- instead of being locked up at $657/day -- and to bring back county funding for the Mediation Center of Dutchess; program for 245 families with troubled teens -- instead of those youth being incarcerated at $240,000/year (our plan would restore -- see http://www.petitiononline.com/cobudget
So join us every other Saturday at 10:30 am -- as Ann Perry and Joel Tyner host "Jobs Not Jails" public forums at Holy Light Pentecostal Church, 33 Clover St. in Poughkeepsie! For further infomation please call: Joel Tyner at 444-0599/876-2488 or email: [email protected] http://www.DutchessDemocracy.blogspot.com . Also contact Theo Harris, [email protected] .
Next Meeting: Sat., Aug. 20 at 9:30 am, with presentation at 11:00 a.m. at Holy Light Pentecostal Church, 33 Clover St., Poughkeepsie.
PS: Many thanks to Earl Brown, Wesley Lee, Ann Perry, Joy Gurewitz, JP Ferraro, Rich Carlson, Mae Parker-Harris, and Jillian Egan for getting the new publication off the ground-- "The New York Progressive" (see http://www.wvhw.net/nyp1
Quotes from Martin Luther King Jr. March on Jan. 18, 2011: Nearly a dozen spoke, sang or played an instrument in honor of King, the only American who was not a U.S. president to have a federal holiday named in his honor. He has been recognized on the third Monday in January since 1986.
"Dr. King stood for civil rights, but he also stood for peace," said Pat Lamanna, a city resident who played acoustic guitar and led the group in song.
Fred Nagel, 67, of Rhinebeck spoke about the impact of words.
"Words can be used for anything - to justify war in Afghanistan, drone attacks," Nagel said. "Our leaders can quote Martin Luther King all they want, but unless they act on those words, they are all pretenders."
Ann Perry, a city resident, emceed the event. "I'm tired. It's cold," Perry said. "If Martin Luther King said that and stayed home and looked out his window or played the Wii, or whatever that game is, we would not be here in this form."
The Rev. Ed Miller, a retired prison chaplain, spoke about the disproportionate incarceration of black males and the privatization of prisons in the U.S.
Miller said anyone interested in the topic should read a book called "The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness," by Michelle Alexander.
Theo Harris, 61, of the Town of Poughkeepsie spoke about King's assassination. "We cannot forget that fateful day in a Tennessee hotel. Where Dr. Martin Luther King, the people's leader, fell," Harris said.
Marilynn Vetrano, executive director of the county Human Rights Commission, spoke about her agency, which is scheduled to close March 31. "We accomplished much," said Vetrano, who noted that the commission took 900 complaints in 2010. "We have a settlement for a young man who was denied a promotion at a major corporation," she said. "I wonder what Dr. Martin Luther King would say about the closing of a human rights commission in any county."
Joel Tyner spoke last. "They just eliminated the GED program at the county jail," he said. "When was that on the front page of any paper? We need to light a fire under the good Democrats and good Republicans to say there are different ways of doing this," he said about a discussed expansion of the Dutchess County Jail.