Tag Archives: prison reform

It’s not as catchy of a slogan, but “Let’s Incentivize Communities to Start Creatively Shrinking Police Forces, Collecting Data on What Works and What Doesn’t, and Go from There”

By Mark | June 8, 2020

While I’ve always been against the militarization of U.S. police forces, and in favor of more transparency, accountability and civilian oversight, I have to confess that I’ve never taken calls to “defund the police” very seriously. When, in the past, I’ve heard people say that we should abolish the police, I’ve thought that they were […]

Posted in Civil Liberties, Politics, Uncategorized | Also tagged #8toabolition, #cut50, #DefundThePolice, 2020, 9/11, Alicia Garza, authoritarianism, black lives matter, Clementine, crime, David Ware, defund the police, Donald Trump, Douglas Schoen, George Floyd, home invasion, LAPD, law and order, Minneapolis, NYPD, police violence, prison industrial complex, racism, recidivism, Shaka Senghor, the militarization of the police, Tucker Carlson, Ypsilanti police department | 85 Comments

Melvin Parson and the campaign to create a world-class urban farm in Ypsilanti

By Mark | February 26, 2019

Melvin Parson and I have been working off an on for the past two years on an interview for this site. It began as an Ypsilanti Immigration Interview, and, over time, as we dug deeper into his work with We The People Growers Association, evolved into something more about his dream of establishing a world-class […]

Posted in Agriculture, Ann Arbor, Detroit, entrepreneurism, Environment, Food, Sustainability, Uncategorized, Ypsilanti | Also tagged 13th, addiction, Ann Arbor, Avalon Housing, Black Beauty, community gardens, culinary arts, Dawn Farm, Detroit, Doug Coombe, drugs, Edible Avalon, Emanuel Tyus, food hub, fundraising, Great Migration, Henry Ford, Henry Ford Museum, heroin, inequality, Kerrytown, Kerrytown Farmers Market, local food, local food production, matching grants, Melvin Parson, Michigan Department of Corrections, Parkridge Homes, Port Huron, prison industry, Shaka Senghor, social justice, St. Joseph Mercy, substance abuse, the hiring on ex-fellons, urban farming, Washtenaw County Jail, We The People Growers Association, We The People Opportunity Center, white flight, Wizard of Oz, YCS, Ypsi immigration interview, Ypsilanti Community Schools | 9 Comments

Dear Mr. Trump: Will You Advance a Moral Agenda?

By Mark | December 30, 2016

Tomorrow night, as people around the world gather to celebrate the coming of 2017, Reverend Dr. William Barber II, along with several other leaders of the American faith community, will be congregating at the historic Metropolitan AME Church in Washington, DC for what they’re calling a National Watch Night service. The purpose of the gathering, […]

Posted in Civil Liberties, Politics, Uncategorized | Also tagged Ben Carson, Donald Trump, Education, God, Higher Ground Moral Declaration, human rights, Jeff Sessions, morality, morals, National Watch Night, poverty, public education, race, race and poverty, religion, sentencing reform, Steve Bannon, voting rights, William Barber | 246 Comments

John Sinclair on his efforts to bring down the U.S. government, superintendent Ben Edmondson on the state of Ypsi schools, and musician Cash Harrison on the inspirational power of heartache… on episode 49 of the Saturday Six Pack

By Mark | September 19, 2016

The last episode of the Saturday Six Pack is now available online. If you’re so inclined, you can either scroll to the bottom of this post, where you’ll find the Soundcloud audio embedded, or just click over to iTunes, were you can download it in podcast form. I know it doesn’t mean much coming from […]

Posted in Ann Arbor, Detroit, Education, History, Politics, The Saturday Six Pack, Uncategorized | Also tagged 1960's, 1968, 1969, 1971, Alan Haber, Albion College, Beach Boys, beatniks, Benjamin Edmondson, Bill Haley and His Comets, black Muslim, Black Muslims in America, Black Panthers, black separatism, Bleak house, bombs, Brendan Toller, Buick, Cash Harrison, Charles Dickens, Chick Berry, Chris Sandon, Chuck Berry, CIA, class, communes, cops, Danny Fields, Danny Says, Dave Valler, Davison, Detroit Riot, dismantling of public education, Domino's, Domino's Pizza, Down Beat, dropouts, drug fiends, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Elijah Mohammed, Flint, Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers, fucking, Grande Ballroom, greasers, guns, hippies, hipster, hipsters, Huey P. Newton, Iggy and the Stooges, Iggy Pop, James Osterberg Jr, Jazz, John Lennon, John Sinclair, John Sinclair Freedom Rally, Leni Sinclair, Malcolm X, marijuana, Maybellene, MC5, Miles Davis, Mothers of Invention, Muhammed Speaks, music, Nation of Islam, panties, Patrick Elkins, police, pot, poverty, President Dave, prison, Psychedelic Rangers, public education, punk rock, Pussy Riot, R&B, race and poverty, racism, revolution, rhetoric of violent revolution, rhythm and blues, Rob Tyner, Rock and Roll, SDS, Shaka Senghor, Students for a Democratic Society, Tanya Bowman, The Eagles, threats to public education, Tom Hayden, Trans-Love Energies, University of Michigan, White Panther Party, Xavier Small, YCS, Yoko Ono, Ypsilanti Community Schools | 7 Comments

Bestselling author Shaka Senghor takes us inside the “big warehouse of human misery” that is the American prison system, filmmaker Donald Harrison tells us about his new Commie High documentary, and we talk judicial reform with civil rights attorney Dick Soble… on episode 43 of the Saturday Six Pack

By Mark | May 1, 2016

For those of you who didn’t catch episode 43 of The Saturday Six Pack when it was first broadcast a few weeks ago, it’s now available online. If you scroll to the bottom of this post, you’ll find it embedded. If you’d rather not hear my voice, though, here are my abbreviated notes. Our first […]