AN INVITATION TO PARTICIPATE IN

A REFLECTION AND ACTION “THINK TANK”

The Riverside Church, 490 Riverside Drive, New York

Sunday afternoons,

Beginning February 7, 2016, at 1:00 pm.

True or False?

  • At least one in 54 African American men over the age of 18, is in a state of “Neo-Slavery” or “New Jim Crow”.[i]
  • Black women are the fastest growing U.S. prison population.[ii]
  • The War on Drugs is not decreasing drug-related crimes.[iii]
  • Black men are five times more likely to become victims of police brutality than White men are. [iv]
  • Immigrants are being seized and forced to do free labor in detention centers throughout the country. [v]
  • Transnational Corporations are earning millions as a result of the above.[vi]
  • President Obama’s presidency has not produced a post-racial U.S. society. [vii]

Research by Michelle Alexander, author of The New Jim Crow, and others, indicates the answer to all of the above, is “True”. This may be surprising, but what may also be surprising is the money that multi-national corporations seem to be making from this state of affairs.

This six-week “Think Tank”will engage in theological reflection on the above realities, on the current state of affairs and then collaborate to develop strategies that can eventuate in ending of mass incarceration and the prison/industrial complex. Participants will include: community activists, members of church-based prison ministries, former and current inmates, their families, members of The Riverside Church and any other persons interested in the topic.

Future “Think Tanks” will focus on other social justice issues such as gun control, mass deportation and Islamophobia.

This is your invitation to participate. We realize that you may not be able to attend all of the sessions, but you are invited to attend as many as you can. To enroll, follow the link below. It connects you with a more detailed electronic brochure posted on the website of the Riverside Church (BELOW) with an on-line form for enrollment. Click on the link, “Ministry of Education”, “Small Group Classes”.

Contact:Colleen Birchett .

PREVIEWS:

[i] U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, “Analysis of Prison and Jail Inmates at Midyear” (2007) in The New Jim Crow Study Guide by Colleen Birchett, Tiauna Boyd, Iva E. Carruthers and Alice Gise Johnson, p. 44.

[ii]

[iii] Michelle Alexander, The New Jim Crow, p. 59.

[iv]

[v]

[vi]

[vii] Op. Cit., Alexander, “Introduction”.