You may also not aware that Georgia, home of the so-called “black mecca” that is Atlanta, has the largest percentage of its citizens behind bars of any state in the nation, with the exception of Texas. And take a wild guess as to who makes up most of the inmate population.
On Dec. 9, thousands of Georgia prisoners refused to work, stopped all other activities and locked themselves in their cells in a peaceful, nonviolent protest against institutionalized slavery. The coordinated effort is being conducted by inmates from Augusta, Macon, Hays, Hancock, Smith, Telfair and Baldwin State prisons. These are their basic demands, which almost read like the 10-Point party platform from the days of the Black Panther Party:
1. A living wage for work
2. Educational opportunities
3. Decent health care
4. An end to cruel and unusual punishments
5. Decent living conditions
6. Nutritional meals
7. Vocational and self-improvement opportunities
8. Just parole decisions
What many people are not aware of that is even more frightening and revolting is that:
1. According to the Georgia Department of Corrections, over 61 percent of Georgia’s inmates are African American.
2. The state’s incarceration rate is 16 percent higher than the national average.
3. Georgia is second only to Texas when it comes to the percentage of its citizens it sends to prison.
4. Also, Georgia’s prison population has increased by more than 25 percent during the last decade, but this increase is not due to an increase in crime.
5. Over 16 percent of Georgia State employees work for the prison system. Prisons are big money for politicians and bloodless corporations who have a stake in their success.
6. This is the same type of draconian, Machiavellian, bloodthirsty system that caused the state of California to collapse underneath the weight of its corrupt and colossal prison-industrial complex.
The Revs. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton stated they are aware of the revolt and the National Action Network is said to be working on behalf of those working with prisoners. It is irrelevant whether or not the general population agrees with the prisoners’ actions. It is indefensible and inexcusable for the national, 24-hour newsgathering corporations in this country to not at least report on this history-making event.
Perhaps there is just too much money to be made, in the state of the Georgia and around the nation, from free prison labor pools — pools of institutional servants, by the way, that will continue to return to prison because they are deliberately crippled in society. Mass imprisonment is much easier to justify than slavery, and calling the institutions “correctional facilities” give the false impression that prison wards are actually trying to rehabilitate those incarcerated. –terry shropshire
