(From 00006.mp4)
Speaking: Moderator Alice Ragland
... addressed by this nation until Ida B. Wells embarrassed the United States internationally by informing the world about its hypocrisy and brutality. The testimony will also be delivered to local government officials including Mayor Frank Jackson. This People’s Tribunal aims to build momentum for National Shut-Down day which is this Tuesday, April 14th. The National Stop Mass Incarceration Network has deemed April 14th a day of mass walkouts, demonstrations and other disruptive actions that symbolize stopping business as usual, the business of law enforcement officials killing unarmed black, brown and poor people with impunity. Join us for Shutdown Day this Tuesday, April 14th. We will be gathering at 3 p.m. on the Mall, at the northeast corner of Public Square. There will also be a teach-in outside of The Justice Center starting at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, which will include educational workshops about systemic oppression. This event was put together by Puncture the Silence. The purpose of Puncture the Silence is to raise awareness in Northeast Ohio about mass incarceration and the New Jim Crow, to foment a movement to stop mass incarceration and the racially biased practices of the criminal justice system, and to plan actions and events that connect to other efforts of resistance to the New Jim Crow. In case you are not familiar with the term “the New Jim Crow”, it’s a term coined by 2 Professor Michelle Alexander to describe the racist laws, policies and practices of the criminal justice system and the legal system to maintain a racial caste system that aims to keep African Americans in a permanently inferior place in society. Mass incarceration of African Americans for minor crimes, disproportionate policing and jailing of people of color, and racism in the courtrooms and also police brutality and poor communities and communities of color are all a part of the New Jim Crow. Today we will hear firsthand experiences from the testifiers about their experiences with the New Jim Crow. Puncture the Silence was founded last April from a group of women in Cleveland Heights after reading The New Jim Crow and being inspired by the efforts around Trayvon Martin and the anti-stop-and-frisk policies in New York. It is an affiliate of the national Stop Mass Incarceration Network and it has put together film screenings, demonstrations and other actions in response to the police killings of unarmed poor people and people of color. Please stand if you are a member of Puncture the Silence. Let’s give Puncture the Silence a hand for putting this together. (Applause) Um, so I wanna thank Puncture the Silence for putting on this important event. Um, I also want to thank Cleveland State University, Dr. Mark [sic--Michael] Williams, Faheem Khabeer and the CSU Black Studies Department(From 00007.mp4)
Speaking: Moderator Alice Ragland
...were created just to maintain an atmosphere of respect. Um, so, number one is listen actively, respect others while they are talking. That includes keeping your personal conversations to a minimum while other people are talking, um, so that the room can be quiet. Also, when we do a Q. and A. at the end please speak from your own experiences and not generalize, such as using I statements, instead of we or they. Also, um, don’t be afraid to respectfully challenge somebody in the space, but please refrain from any personal attacks once we do open the floor up to the discussion part. Number four is ...
