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THE OFFICIAL WEB SITE OF THE MADISON TIMES WEEKLY NEWSPAPER |
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“Stop
the Rail to Jail” conference
"The conference is an opportunity for youth to get together to discuss the issues," event co-organizer Kathy Vellon said. "We will talk about the disproportionate rate [at] which youth are being locked up. The [second day of the conference] is geared toward what they can do in their communities." The event was organized by a group of high school youths of color who make up the Youth Resource committee of Dane County’s Disproportionate Minority Contact Board (DMC). After months of planning, these young people put together a statewide conference aimed at middle and high school youths of color. "We had about eight to 10 youth who came together every week since July to plan this conference," Wexford Ridge Neighborhood Center youth-community organizer Tracy Benson said. The conference was comprised of a number of large group and small group sessions focused on different issues related to youth imprisonment. Topics included education, the impact of racial profiling in schools and communities, youth rights with police, school discipline, and community-based alternatives to suspensions and jail time. "Youth and children cannot be successful in school if their educational process is being continuously interrupted by trips to the principal’s office, by questioning from school officials, by suspensions, and by arrests from school," Benson said. "Nor can they be rehabilitated when housed in cages." Conference presenter Tshaka Barrows encouraged youths to speak out against the high rate of youth of color who are imprisoned. Barrows works for Community Justice Network for Youth, an organization of community-based programs primarily serving youths of color. "Everybody’s hurt by this, but it specifically has a racial target," Barrows said. "We have got to do something about this. Part of that is getting together so that we can change the situation." Presenter Royce Kinniebrew spoke with the youths about what he views as parallels between slavery and the current prison system. He is the creator of the Kinniebrew Group, a company that provides Black history programs for schools, businesses, and other groups or organizations across the nation. "There really are similarities between slavery and the industrial prison complex," Kinnienbrew said. "Over 60 percent of the jail population is people of color. The fastest growing group of people being incarcerated is women of color."
"Our country is addicted to incarceration," Barrows said. "One out of three Black people are locked up. I know a lot of people in this country who make a lot of mistakes, and they don’t get locked up like we do." While youths were at the conference to learn about this epidemic, they were also there to socialize and display their talents. Participants were treated to a cultural showcase, socializing opportunities, and a late-night dance. Arthur Richardson, who leads the youth performing troupe called Streets of Gold, coordinated the entertainment. "It is good for young people to express themselves in a positive way," Richardson said. "So many times in the media, you see negative images of young people of color. Not all Black men and Black kids are carrying guns and joining gangs. There [are] a lot of talented and intelligent [youths] of color in our community." The young people themselves showed off their talents by performing dance, spoken word, and music. Madison East High School’s drill team Kojo had the audience tapping their feet and shaking their heads, while other performers talked politics in songs and hip-hopped the night away. On the last day of the conference, youths were asked to problem solve and come up with solutions to "Stop the Rail to Jail." Sponsored by Dane County DMC and the Office of Justice Assistance, organizers hope the event will lead to efforts to decrease the disproportionate number of young people of color who enter the system.
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Over
100 young people gathered at the Lussier Teen Center in downtown
Madison recently in an effort to "Stop the Rail to Jail."
The two-day conference focused on what youths can do to combat
the disproportionate number of people of color being imprisoned
in U.S. penal institutions. As gaps between Black and White
graduation rates rise nationwide and as Wisconsin continues
to lock up a disproportionate number of youths of color, some
young people in Wisconsin are saying they have had enough.
According
to a study by Mark Wehrly on disproportionate minority confinement,
Wisconsin’s minority youth population was 17 percent in 2000,
but minority-youth accounted for 23 percent of total juvenile
arrests, 27 percent of juvenile-court referrals, and 44 percent
of juveniles in detention. Nationally, African American youths
are six times more likely to be incarcerated than White youths
for similar offenses. Here in Wisconsin, which has the highest
disparity of any state, youths of color were 17 times more likely
than White youths to be committed to state public facilities.
