african american prisoners

"[A novel] . . . about two top women gladiators fighting for their freedom within a depraved private prison system not so far-removed from America's own. Loretta Thurwar and Hamara 'Hurricane Staxxx' Stacker are the stars of 'Chain-Gang All-Stars,' the cornerstone of CAPE, or Criminal Action Penal Entertainment, a highly-popular, highly-controversial, profit-raising program in America's increasingly dominant private prison industry. It's the return of the gladiators and prisoners are competing for the ultimate prize: their freedom. In CAPE, prisoners travel as Links in Chain-Gangs, competing in death-matches for packed arenas with righteous protestors at the gates. Thurwar and Staxxx, both teammates and lovers, are the fan favorites. And if all goes well, Thurwar will be free in just a few matches, a fact she carries as heavily as her lethal hammer. As she prepares to leave her fellow Links, she considers how she might help preserve their humanity, in defiance of these so-called games, but CAPE's corporate owners will stop at nothing to protect their status quo and the obstacles they lay in Thurwar's path have devastating consequences--Provided by publisher.

The author describes his childhood of homelessness, poverty, and abuse; how he shot a woman in the face during a mugging; and how he was sentenced to life in prison at age fourteen. Details how his victim forgave him and advocated for his freedom which was obtained by the Equal Justice Initiative. Discusses the U.S. criminal justice system, the mass incarceration of youth of color, and the work of the Equal Justice Initiative.

Discusses the history of mass incarceration in the United States, why there is a disproportionate number of minorities in prison, its ties to slavery and Jim Crow laws, and how activists are seeking changes to the criminal justice system. Includes activities, a timeline, a glossary, and a book list for further reading.

Argues that mass incarceration of African- and Latino Americans in the United States is a form of social control, and contends the civil rights community needs to become more active in protecting the rights of criminals.

Argues that mass incarceration of African- and Latino Americans in the United States is a form of social control, and contends the civil rights community needs to become more active in protecting the rights of criminals.

A documentary film, based on the book by Douglas A. Blackmon, challenging the belief that slavery in the U.S. ended with Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, and discussing how, in the South, a new system of involuntary servitude took its place, was tolerated by both the North and South, and continued into the twentieth century.

"In 1963, more than 30 African American girls, ages 11-14, were arrested for taking part in Civil Rights protests in Americus, Georgia. Then came a greater ordeal: confinement in a Civil-War-era stockade."--Provided by publisher.

"... reconstruction of the ... life of a wrongfully convicted man whose story becomes an historic portrait of the Jim Crow South"--Provided by publisher.

In 1991, Shaka Senghor was sent to prison for second-degree murder. Today he is a lecturer at universities, a leading voice on criminal justice reform, and an inspiration to thousands. As he says "In life, it's not how you start that matters. It's how you finish.".