Join Us At “The New Jim Crow” Conference Saturday, March 10, 1:00PM, 1502 Cuming, Omaha

“The New Jim Crow is a stunning account of the rebirth of a caste-like system in the United States, one that has resulted in millions of African Americans locked behind bars and then relegated to a permanent second-class status—denied the very rights supposedly won in the Civil Rights Movement. Since its publication in 2010, the book has been dubbed the “secular bible of a new social movement” by numerous commentators, including Cornel West, and has led to consciousness-raising efforts in universities, churches, community centers, re-entry centers and prisons nationwide. The New Jim Crow tells a truth our nation has been reluctant to face.”  — from the website of the book by Michelle Alexander, The New Jim Crow:  Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness”

Michelle Alexander will be in Omaha March 10 to speak at a conference dealing with the fact that minorities, especially African-Americans, are imprisoned 5 to 6 times more often than whites (http://www.sentencingproject.org/doc/publications/rd_stateratesofincbyraceandethnicity.pdf), and “More than 60% of the people in prison are now racial and ethnic minorities. For Black males in their twenties, 1 in every 8 is in prison or jail on any given day. These trends have been intensified by the disproportionate impact of the “war on drugs,” in which three-fourths of all persons in prison for drug offenses are people of color.”

Michelle Alexander is one of the people fanning the flames of a movement for equality before the courts;  one more step in the battle to make America a truly open society.

Pre-registration is required but the fee is only $5.00.  Registration is limited to the first 200.  You can register online here.

The Progressive Research Institute is one of the sponsors of this event.