Part III: in the land of the free
Prison History is Central to American History, Yale Panel says
Louisiana has the highest prison rate in the world. In Fall semester at the University of New Orleans a class on the prison industrial complex will be held--more information will be posted later about the class.
According to Jim Shelton, writer for the New Haven Register, the Yale panel agreed that '.'prison system and prison history has implications for the way we examine politics, education, labor, the economy and race.'
Author Khalil Gibran Muhammad stated that 'America's prosperity has always been underwritten by this state of unfreedom.'
Muhammad argued that in 1850 only one percent of the Alabama jails were occupied by African Americans, but after the Civil War during Reconstruction, that number increased to 85 percent.
Louisiana's Angola Prison, which houses most of Louisiana's incarcerated population, was built on the site of a former plantation employed by slave labor. (Angola Museum).
Albert Woodfox, the last of the Angola 3, continues to live in solitary confinement--for over forty years. The Angola three were three black men who became Black Panthers while in jail and attempted to organize prisons conditions in hopes of ameliorating the hostile conditions. In a scuffle, a sheriff deputy was killed and all three men faced charges. Advocates for the Angola 3 claim the chargers were pinned to the three men because of their affiliation with the Black Panthers--not because they were actually involved in the stabbing.
For more information on the Angola 3: Black Panthers and the Last Slave Plantation
The Huffington Posts has published a series of articles on the state of solitary confinement at torture.
Albert Woodfox, the last of the Angola 3, continues to live in solitary confinement--for over forty years. The Angola three were three black men who became Black Panthers while in jail and attempted to organize prisons conditions in hopes of ameliorating the hostile conditions. In a scuffle, a sheriff deputy was killed and all three men faced charges. Advocates for the Angola 3 claim the chargers were pinned to the three men because of their affiliation with the Black Panthers--not because they were actually involved in the stabbing.
For more information on the Angola 3: Black Panthers and the Last Slave Plantation
The Huffington Posts has published a series of articles on the state of solitary confinement at torture.
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