Family of Kalief Browder Awarded $3.3 Million From New York

I don't know if you've forgotten his name. But he was unjustly accused of stealing a back pack. As I recall there was a bad eyewitness I D. Because his family was poor, he couldn't afford bail* for 3 years... after he refused to take a plea for something he didn't do.

*only 12% of defendants could afford bail at the time.

So young he was assaulted and beaten by other prisoners and prison guards both, while at Rikers. Authorities wound up keeping away from the general prison population (but not the guards, as I recall) via putting him solitary confinement -- which crushes people psychologically. And the didn't do it for a week or so at a time, which is bad enough. They kept him there for best part of 2 years.

Browder killed himself shortly after being released. One year plus one day later, after having discoered her son's hanging body his mother Venida Browder was also dead (of a broken heart).

Kalief Browder's story is one of the saddest prison stories you'll ever hear.
Read More: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/family-kalief-browder-young-man-who-killed-himself-after-jail-n962466? The original story is within the link below: https://blackchickrocked.blogspot.com/2018/05/kalief-browder-regarding-poverty-prison.html

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CLEMENCY POSSIBLE FOR CYNTOIA BROWN

Feeling Rebloggy

     Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam said on Monday that he is carefully considering the clemency request for Cyntoia Brown, who was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison in 2004 for killing a 43-year-old man who had solicited her for sex when she was just 16 years old. The Tennessee Supreme Court ruled last week that Brown must serve 51 years before she’s eligible for parole. 

      Prosecutors said that Brown went with Johnny Mitchell Allen with the intent to rob him, but she and her lawyers insisted that she shot Allen in self-defense because she thought he was going to kill her. She also said she went home with him to have sex for money on the orders of her abusive boyfriend, who beat her and forced her into prostitution. In her appeal, she said that she only took money from the victim’s wallet after he was dead because she was afraid of what would happen if she went back to her boyfriend empty handed...

Read More: https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/cyntoia-brown-clemency-governor-bill-haslam-767677/?

DID BLACK SENIOR CITIZENS FACE WHITE SOUTHERN STYLE VOTER SUPPRESSION IN GEORGIA?

Feeling Rebloggy

Seniors in rural Georgia were dancing in the street, preparing to board Black Voters Matter‘s bus to cast their ballots Monday, the first day of the state’s early voting period. But the county clerk ordered the senior center to take the 40 or so elderly African Americans off the bus — an act organizers described as “live voter suppression.”

...The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Tuesday reported that a Jefferson County clerk had called the senior center, raising concerns about allowing the bus to take residents to vote. The county administrator later told the newspaper that officials considered the bus tour “political activity,” which is barred at county-sponsored events. The senior center is a county-run facility...

There are no laws in Jefferson County or in the state of Georgia prohibiting groups from transporting voters to the polls, according to Brown, who said the elderly citizens “actually requested to ride with us.” Jefferson County is roughly 53 percent black, according to Census data...

~THINK PROGRESS 

Read More:  https://thinkprogress.org/georgia-black-voters-matter-bus-blocked-from-taking-seniors-to-vote-a3c3e6580c5b/

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CRYSTAL MASON FACES FIVE YEARS IN PRISON FOR ACCIDENTALLY ATTEMPTING TO VOTE

Crystal Mason is on the left

Before we talk about Crystal Mason, let me give you some background information first

1) Believe it or not, convicted felons now have the right to vote in Texas.
2) However, people on supervised release are NOT eligible to vote3) Crystal Mason fell into the latter category as she had a previous conviction for tax fraud

According to the Mason (Democracy Now Interview)

In 2016, the polling station volunteer(?) at Crystal Mason's polling place called her back AS SHE WAS LEAVING. The people in charge at the polling station failed to find Mason's name on voter registration rolls. Mason thought she couldn't vote. She was leaving. The volunteer(?) at the polling place --trying to be helpful I'm sure-- called Mason back and suggested she fill out a provisional ballot. 

I find that I don't really know what a provisional ballot is.  

So from what I understand of what I just read at Wikipedia, a provisional ballot is what you're supposed to use to vote when you're not sure you can vote. Then some government body reviews the ballot and decides whether it counts or not.

I think that's what I read. Judge for yourself

FROM WIKIPEDIA (because I can't be the only one confused)
In elections in the United States, a provisional ballot is used to record a vote when there are questions about a given voter's eligibility.  

The guarantee that a voter could cast a provisional ballot if the voters states that he or she is entitled to vote is required by the federal Help America Vote Act of 2002.

Some of the most common reasons to cast a provisional ballot include: 

The voter's name does not appear on the electoral roll for the given precinct (polling place), because the voter is not registered to vote or is registered to vote elsewhere 

The voter's eligibility cannot be established or has been challenged 

The voter lacks a photo identification document (in jurisdictions that require one) 

The voter requested to vote by absentee ballot but claims to have not received, or not cast, the absentee ballot 

The voter's registration contains inaccurate or outdated information such as the wrong address or a misspelled nameIn a closed primary (limited to members of a political party), the voter's party registration is listed incorrectly[1] 

Whether a provisional ballot is counted is contingent upon the verification of that voter's eligibility, which may involve local election officials reviewing government records or asking the voter for more information, such as a photo identification not presented at the polling place or proof of residence.[1] 

Each state may set its own timing rules for when they must be resolved. Provisional ballots therefore cannot usually be counted until after the day of the election.[1] 

Again, to me, it sounds like if you're confused about your own eligibility to vote, you should use a provisional ballot so the government can decide if your vote can be counted.

So I'm still confused as to how Texas prosecutors THINK they should have prosecuted her at all.

And, I'm not simply saying I disagree with the prosecutor's argument in this case (the republican judge's too) I'm saying I don't know what their argument IS from what I've read so far.

 I'm not sure I've interpreted Wikipedia correctly or that Wikipedia is correct in the first place. But what's even more important is this: The Guardian article I just read said her vote DID NOT COUNT in 2016. 

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/aug/27/crime-of-voting-texas-woman-crystal-mason-five-years-prison

So Crystal Mason is being threatened with 5 years in prison for accidentally attempting to vote, yes? 

Crystal's attorney seems to be correct. What else IS THIS but an attempt to scare black and brown people away from the polls? What else could it be? 

When a white woman,Terri Lynn Rote, deliberately tried to vote for President Trump twice she didn't get ANY prison time at all. 

Iowa woman who tried to vote for Donald Trump twice gets two years probation and $750 fine

Terri Lynn Rote

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/terri-lynn-rote-iowa-vote-donald-trump-twice-two-years-probation-750-fine-a7900886.html

SIT UP AND PAY ATTENTION. WE'RE ALL IN TROUBLE. THIS COULD HAVE HAPPENED TO ANY-BLACK-BODY...AND EASILY.

In California the people at the polling place are volunteers who are supposed to tell you the right things to do as a voter. That's why they are there. Crystal Mason did everything right, as far as she knew, and now she's faced with going to prison. 

Her lawyer told her to pack a bag, for her final hearing, as if she expects to go

By the way, why the hell would Texas make it legal for ex-convicts to vote but not cover those on supervised release? 

It sounds like an innocent omission on the part of law-makers, a loophole. But did the infamous for white supremacy lawmakers in the county that contains Fort Worth Texas simply find a way to jump through it?

I know I'm missing some technical details of the law here. I almost have to be. But what is obvious is what is important here. Crystal Mason did NOT intentionally try to vote when she was not supposed to. And her vote didn't have any affect as it was not counted. 

Crystal Mason's Democracy Now Interview

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Papa John’s founder John Schnatter Resigns After Latest Racist Rant

Feeling Rebloggy 

Papa John’s founder John Schnatter resigned as board chairman from the pizza company after he apologized for using a racial slur on a conference call that was set up to teach Schnatter how to not say offensive things. 

This is the latest in the fallout for Schantter, who faced increasing pressure after he admitted using the n-word and described a scene of violence against African Americans on a conference call in May.  

Forbes first reported the call, which was set up to help take Schnatter through a “role-playing exercise” to help him deal with racially sensitive situations.  

Schnatter stepped down as CEO from Papa John’s last year, after he blamed NFL leadership for failing to stop [BLACK LIVES MATTER protests during the national anthem], which he said had driven down the chain’s sales.

According to Forbes:
On the May call, Schnatter was asked how he would distance himself from racist groups online. He responded by downplaying the significance of his NFL statement. “Colonel Sanders called blacks n-----s,” Schnatter said, before complaining that Sanders never faced public backlash...

~VOX

READ MORE:  
https://www.vox.com/2018/7/11/17562416/papa-johns-founder-resigns-racial-slur-john-schnatter


File this under protest works (slowly) because white run companies are getting out in front of things now. When the racism is overt, they aren't waiting for the protests to come and take away marketshare.  Green money matters can make black life matter to those who are exactly one scintilla better than Papa John himself. 

'Papa John's Stock rose 10% on the news Schnatter is gone.

BLaCKCHiCKRoCKeD.BLoGSPoT.CoM

THE UNWRITTEN RULES OF THE WHITE RUN WORKPLACE: PHONE VS IN PERSON INTERVIEWS

In the scenario that plays out in the video above, the black woman and the white woman have been working together by phone for a while. But when I was young, this very scenario is what happened to me in 80% of my job interviews.

That is, my phone interview always went great. But when I walked in the door for the formal interview, the white woman interviewing me always made the face shown in the video. That is the exact face that Becky makes when she was expecting a white woman but your black ass showed up.

I actually had one white woman come out of her back office --after speaking so glowingly to me on the phone and almost guaranteeing me the job-- stop short, stare, and tell me the job had already been filled during the 15 minutes it took me to drive to her establishment.

I can see a black person deciding to jump off a roof rather than go through this day after day after day if they were out of work for 3 months or 6 months or a year and I never had to look for a job that long in my life because I'm class privileged and had impressive schools and such on my resume. Eventually, rather quickly in fact, I'd hit upon a white interviewer that would see me as a "credit to my race."

Once I had my foot in the door, "credit to my race" meant all I had to do was perform my job better than a chimpanzee to keep the job. But "credit to your race" employment never gets you promotions. 

I've only been hired by one white woman who I thought saw me as a whole human being. And it was early in my work life. If she hadn't been held down and held back by the good ole white boys network herself, I'm sure she would have promoted me in a way commensurate with my performance.

This is why I cannot imagine the kind of hell a black person who lives at the wrong address must go through when looking for a job. I cannot imagine it. But I can imagine losing a job and winding up on welfare or homeless if I didn't have my class privilege shielding my blackness. 

I don't know if I can also imagine myself winding up in Alice Johnson's shoes  -- the woman released from a life sentence in prison after 21 years for being a communications link in an illicit drug operation. 

But maybe I could have wound up in Johnson's position too. I think I might have done almost anything to avoid having to depend on welfare. Filling out paperwork and applying for welfare almost has to involve, at some point, dealing with sneering white people who look down on you for fitting into one of the worst stereotypes white people have created for us. 

The woman doing this awesome series, presents the information as comedy. And I love it because it presents some very serious issues that 99% of white people are likely completely unaware. But I do wonder if some of non-black people watching this series realize that these white-racism-based reactions executed by white people can literally wind up be life altering for black people.

This scenario recast as job interview here in this post is the reason why I resent the hell out of the term "microaggression." There's nothing "micro" about this seemingly low-level white supremacy when it surrounds you on all sides and can make the difference in you being able to eat, buy a car, or own a house. 

Check out the UNWRITTEN RULES series on facebook or binge watch all three seasons on the InkSpot Entertainment Channel.

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SERENA WILLIAMS: WHITE REPORTER APOLOGIZES FOR RECYCLING A 14 YEAR OLD TRUMP INSULT

From A Twitter Feed

http://www.ebony.com/entertainment-culture/reporter-apologizes-serena-williams-maria-sharapovas?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_content=link

No I didn't post his apology cause... F*** his apology

This isn't new for Serena. But I don't feel sorry for her because I know she knows that she is everything and that white people like him and Trump are just mad she wins over white people everywhere she goes.

But this little encounter does make me wonder about how "average" black women deal with this kind of crap on a day to day basis when they don't have a few dozen grand slams in their back pocket to make their ego bulletproof

... cause these white aggressions are about as micro as piranha.

Every single time I hear the term "microaggressions," which white people rushed to embrace to minimize their bullsh**, I grind my teeth and spit out micro bits of tooth. 

Like I've said before, there's nothing micro about a million bullets headed in your direction on a weekly basis. I'm surprised no-white-body has come along and changed "microaggressions" to "nano-aggressions" 

BLACKCHICKROCKED.BLOGSPOT.COM

ALICE JOHNSON SET FREE FROM LIFE SENTENCE AFTER 21 YEARS INSIDE FOR A NON-VIOLENT DRUG OFFENSE

feeling rebloggy

A grandmother whose life sentence was commuted by President Trump on Wednesday was released from an Alabama prison the same night, her lawyer said. Alice Marie Johnson, 63, reunited with her family in dramatic video captured by CBS News. She was behind bars for 21 years.

Johnson's case was championed last week by reality TV personality Kim Kardashian West, who met with Mr. Trump at the White House about sentencing and prison reform.

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/alice-marie-johnson-released-reunites-family-twitter-video-today-2018-06-06/ 

ALICE'S STORY

Things went downhill for Johnson in 1989, when she and her husband divorced. The following year, she lost her job of 10 years at the FedEx Corporation due to a gambling addiction. With no way to pay her bills, Johnson filed for bankruptcy in 1991 and her house was foreclosed on. In a moment of tragedy for the entire family, Johnson's youngest son, Cory, was killed in a scooter accident in 1992.

Alice Marie Johnson with her children and grandchildren. Image courtesy of the ACLU.

Having hit rock bottom, Johnson began to associate with people who were involved with drug dealing. She became wrapped up in a lucrative operation that transported cocaine to Memphis, Tennessee for distribution. In 1993, she was arrested and accused, along with 15 others, on various drug and money laundering charges.

At trial, prosecutors convinced 10 of her co-conspirators to testify against her in exchange for reduced or, in some cases, dropped charges. Johnson admits she acted as a go-between, relaying coded messages like "everything is straight" by telephone, but says that she never personally made drug deals or sold drugs...

~MIC.COM

https://mic.com/articles/73507/this-single-mother-is-serving-life-without-parole-for-the-most-absurd-reason-you-can-imagine#.j7ArEF5Yg 

I'd love to know more about her story, whether she applied for welfare or if it just wasn't enough, for example. 

I'm glad she's out. But she's not  nearly alone as far as being in prison for life for a nonviolent offense.

Source: https://www.aclu.org/files/assets/aclu-gotlife_atlantic.pdf

Prison Reform needs to be more of a hot button issue. This is not the first time, nor will it be the last, that I've heard of prosecutors handing out deals to get their conviction rate up without keeping an eye toward justice. It would be interesting to see how many drug dealers who actually shot people over turf were set free for pointing the finger at Johnson. 

She was in prison for 21 years.  She did her time. "I not allow this time to do me." She made sure she had a positive impact on the people she came into contact with.

I can tell, we're going to hear from her again. I think we're going to be reading a biography someday soon. 

BLACKCHICKROCKED.BLOGSPOT.COM

JUST WHEN YOU THOUGHT IT WAS OVER

Somebody squeezes another joke 

out of 

BBQ BECKY
BWAAAAA HA HA HA

Background, in case you're not black or have been living under a rock:

http://blackchickrocked.blogspot.com/2018/05/white-woman-calls-police-due-to-bbqing.html

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WHAT TARAJI'S ENGAGEMENT AT 47 TEACHES WOMEN ABOUT LIFE FOCUS

The article below aims to teach women about "not settling" 

I despise the term "not settling" as it refers to marriage. It makes it sound like marriage is inevitable, like you better buy the used car in front of you instead of waiting to see if you find something better at the next car lot.

More to the point, I've read Taraji's biography. She didn't wait. She made mistakes with men, even though she didn't marry her mistakes. And if she hadn't pulled back and refocused on her art and fulfillment as the center of her life, she'd have kept on making the same errors and likely wouldn't have been as good a mother. 

She built on her innate talent and developed her craft as an actor instead of focusing on being half of a couple. 

Most women want romance and love in their lives. But it is a problem that we as women are raised to want this at the expense of everything else. 

This is likely why almost everyone understands that the words "not settling" is a euphemism for "desperation."   

There was a story about five 100 year old black women a few weeks back. A couple of them said the best thing they ever did was NOT GET MARRIED...instead they traveled and had boyfriends. 

Black women need to appreciate Taraji, the 100 year old black women and their approach to life because that "soul mate" may or may not be out there. 

A woman should probably live her life like there's a 50/50 chance her soulmate is not out there. If he (OR A FEW "He-s") is out there, she will be a whole person when he meets her. What's more important is that a whole person can recognize who is and is not good for her.And I hope Taraji is in that place in her life right now. 

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WAKANDA STANCE

I can't confirm that this is a group of 2018 Columbia Law School Graduates. The only source I can really find are unreliable social media pages. But I'm going to take the image as representative of black law students across the nation. 

What's important to notice is how empowered and represented just one movie made us feel --children and adults alike-- a movie that talked about real life black issues in a fictional format.

The movie BLACK PANTHER should have confirmed for you that black images matter. 

The movie BLACK PANTHER also confirmed that images of black men respecting and depending on and talking to black women as equals matters, and is needed in the black community even more. 

The Wakanda Forever Stance

Our new black power in unity salute

Go forth, young black stars, and conquer the unjust white supremacy rooted justice system!

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WILL THE BLACK COMMUNITY EVER STAND UP FOR BLACK WOMEN LIKE CHIKESIA?

Feeling Rebloggy

According to Chikesia Clemons' mother, 

...who spoke with Alabama Local, her daughter and her friend Canita Adams — who filmed the incident — had requested plastic flatware for their to-go meals. They were reportedly told it would cost them an additional 50 cents, and requested the number for their corporate offices to complain. 

Then, the police were called.

Video: Three white male cops choke and half strip Chikesia 
while restaurant patrons, mostly white 
continue eating their meals quietly in the background.

The clip... shows Chikesia sitting in a chair clutching her purse, while three white male police officers surround her, yelling and leaning over her before she’s wrestled to the ground with her breasts exposed.

Throughout the incident, she repeatedly asks what she did wrong. “You’re not going to grab on me like that, no,” Chikesia says to one officer. “What are you doing?” Chikesia asks another. “I’ll break your arm, that’s what I’m about to do,” one responds.... 

Blackness in America is routinely degraded in one of three ways: it is weaponized and viewed as a threat, it is caricatured and seen as an obstacle, or it is infantilized and tossed around. 

...Just hours after Chikesia’s story exploded on social media, a golf club called the police on four experienced Black women golfers because two white men complained that they were golfing too slowly.

...Last week, Rashon Nelson and Donte Robinson were arrested for waiting in a Philadelphia Starbucks.

The mere presence of Blackness is treated as criminal. And what are we guilty of? Making whiteness uncomfortable. And this discomfort can mean our our death. 

Dontre Hamilton, Saheed Vassell, and 12-year-old Tamir Rice are all dead because someone called the police on a “suspicious” Black person. And despite the “angry Black woman” accusations that have come about Chikesia’s behavior at the Waffle House, cursing in a restaurant does not deserve a beating, any more than carrying a toy gun bears a death sentence...

~THE CUT 

Read More: https://www.thecut.com/2018/04/chikesia-clemons-assault-waffle-house-video.html 

REVELATIONS IN BLACK, BROWN, AND WHITE AT STARBUCKS

I love Alvin Ailey Ballet. I see at least one Alvin Ailey performance every other year and sometimes I go every single year they come to town. And I've been doing so for a couple of decades.

It occurs to me that the audience at an Alvin Ailey ballet always looks like the truest picture of America to me. It's what America is supposed to be. Every race/ethnic group is represented in all manner of dress. 

At the end of one performance, I scanned the crowd instead of the dancers taking their bows. 

There were a lot of people in California casual-dressy clothing like me, but I also saw people dressed like they just came from a jazz club or from a ballroom. I saw people dressed up like bankers, farmers, and Hells Angels.

And during the encore, that comes after REVELATIONS at every show, nearly all of these people were standing, some dancing a little, most clapping to the music, singing--and singing LOUD-- about Moses.

It's moments like these that I find myself in love with my life.

And I'm thinking we should all keep this picture in mind as something that life in the United States could be if we work for it. 

And working for it does not mean walking away from a fight. 

And the fight was on when Roshon Nelson and Donte Robinson quietly refused to leave Starbucks when they were ordered to. And it was they were "ordered to leave." Trust.

People have characterized the police as having "asked them to leave." But you don't arrest somebody for failing to respond favorably to an "ask." You arrest people when you've given an "order" that's been disobeyed.

White supremacists and Black Respectability Politicians, who are on the same page as often as they are not, keep asking the question: 

Why didn't they just leave?

They didn't "just leave" because even if they don't have black children they care about, they know they probably will one day. 

They didn't "just leave" because they have nieces, nephews, cousins, and future grand children who will all be black and all be subject to being treated like a dog with fleas in any white run establishment if they don't fight white supremacist based injustice with acts of civil disobedience.

If I ever have a run in with Supervisor Becky in a #ShoppingWhileBlack situation, I hope I have the guts to refuse to "just leave."

If I am treated as if I am less human than the white person next to me, I hope I can push my imaginings of what my own Supervisor Becky will say if I'm arrested. 

I hope have the guts to risk my mental health in a jail cell for a day or longer, the guts to risk my career by sitting down in order to stand up against anti-black racism from random white people and also from those black and brown people who would assimilate into whiteness at any cost. 

I hope I have the nerve to do what is required because the only way White America is going to pull itself together and act like a segment of it does at the end of Alvin Ailey's REVELATIONS is if we train them how to treat us. 

And a big part of training white folks how to treat us means we, as black folks, having to communicate, "OH HELL NO!" when something jumps off.
Some of us (the respectability politicians I am resentful of having to claim sometimes) need to recognize the difference between finding handholds enough to climb high within the white supremacy system and being treated as an equal human being.
Black Quality Of Live Matters. We all have to what we have to do pursue justice when and if we can.

Roshon Nelson and Donte Robinson became the heroes required precisely because they didn't "just leave."

Read more on Starbucks and why Supervisor Becky's "implicit bias" or "overt racism" shouldn't even matter to white people.http://blackchickrocked.blogspot.com/2018/04/starbucks-proves-once-more-that-calm.html

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FAMILY ISN'T ALWAYS FOREVER

“Friends are the family we choose for ourselves.” 

~Edna Buchanan

Feeling Rebloggy 

A few years ago I ended all contact with my parents, and I have not seen or spoken to them since then.

The truth is I am actually okay with that. Initially, I thought I was going to lose my mind. I had been brought up to believe that family comes first. Children should respect and take care of their parents. Family should—and will—always be there for each other. 

Those beliefs were based on love, and I cherished them. 

I wanted so much to feel that connection—that unconditional love those beliefs promised. It was never there. 

Our lives were filled with so much fear, pain, hurt, betrayal, and lies. Manipulation and deceit were at the core of our home. 

I told myself that all families have degrees of dysfunction, and our family was no different. I could not allow myself to believe that our family was different. I believed that one day my parents would realize what they were doing and change. I desperately wanted their love and approval. 

On the night when my husband and I ended up inside a police station explaining why I thought my father was about to come to my home and hurt me, while my two grown sons waited in the car, I realized I had to wake up. 

My fantasy was over. I could no longer go on pretending our family was just like everyone else. That night I said my last goodbye to my mother as she lied to protect my father. The next day I spoke the last words to my father as he screamed into the phone repeating the lies from my childhood. It was over. 

 https://tinybuddha.com/blog/family-isnt-always-forever-time-say-goodbye/

Michelle Jones Gives Us A Three Dimensional Understanding of BAN THE BOX

FIRST, A DEFINITION (from wikipedia) --  

• Ban the Box is the name of an international campaign by civil rights groups and advocates for ex-offenders, aimed at persuading employers to remove from their hiring applications the check box that asks if applicants have a criminal record. Its purpose is to enable ex-offenders to display their qualifications in the hiring process before being asked about their criminal records. The premise of the campaign is that anything that makes it harder for ex-offenders to find a job makes it likelier that they will re-offend, which is bad for society.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ban_the_Box

* * * * *
Michelle Jones was released last month after serving more than two decades in an Indiana prison for the murder of her 4-year-old son. The very next day, she arrived at New York University, a promising Ph.D. student in American studies.

In a breathtaking feat of rehabilitation, Jones, now 45, became a published scholar of American history while behind bars, and presented her work by videoc onference to historians’ conclaves and the Indiana General Assembly. 

With no internet access and a prison library that skewed toward romance novels, she led a team of inmates that pored through reams of photocopied documents from the state archives to produce the Indiana Historical Society’s best research project last year. 

As prisoner No. 970554, Jones also wrote several dance compositions and historical plays, one of which is slated to open at an Indianapolis theater in December.

N.Y.U. was one of several top schools that recruited her for their doctoral programs. She was also among 18 selected from more than 300 applicants to Harvard University’s History Program. 

But in a rare override of a department’s authority to choose its graduate students, Harvard’s top brass overturned Jones’s admission after some professors raised concerns that she downplayed her crime during the application process...

Elizabeth Hinton, one of the Harvard historians who backed Jones, called her “one of the strongest candidates in the country last year, period.” The case “throws into relief,” she added, the question of “how much do we really believe in the possibility of human redemption?”

Source: https://www.themarshallproject.org

After reading this a story a couple of times, tears in my eyes and nausea at the upper end of my stomach, I still can't figure out what happened to Michelle's son and in what order. 

• Are we saying nobody knew her mother was abusive? If there were arrests and cop visits and records, then who is responsible for her child's death?
• Did her mother hit her with a board in the stomach as punishment or to abort the baby? If there were arrests and cop visits and records, then who is responsible for her child's death?
• Was her rapist ever even sought?  If there were arrests and cop visits and records, then who is responsible for her child's death?
• Did she have her first mental breakdown before or after she had the baby? If there were arrests and cop visits and records, then who is responsible for her child's death?
• Did she have first mental breakdown before of after her son disappeared ala Casey Anthony? If there were arrests and cop visits and records, then who is responsible for her child's death?

I could research and probably find out. But the real issue here is whether or not I believe in forgiveness and redemption. If she were to stay in jail another 20 years, another 30 years, or 50 years would I believe that the child's life has been "paid for?" The answer is "No." There's no payment for that. 

The realistically achievable purpose of incarceration is to separate the criminals from the rest of us so that the rest of us, our bodies, our valuables, our society can be safe. The other purpose is satisfying law abiding citizens sense of justice, which more often than not, is pretty similar to satisfying a feeling of revenge. 

In a personal statement accompanying her Harvard application, Jones said she had a psychological breakdown after years of abandonment and domestic violence, and inflicted similar treatment on her own son, Brandon Sims. 

The boy died in 1992 in circumstances that remain unclear; the body was never found.... 

In the personal statement, which was not required, she did not detail her involvement in the crime, but wrote that as a teenager she left Brandon at home alone, that he died, and that she has grieved for him deeply and daily since....

Source: https://www.themarshallproject.org

I don't think you can satisfy a sense of justice or revenge when a child has been neglected to death.

To me the choice is between choosing to forgive or choosing not to forgive, once 20 years, 30 years, or 50 years has passed. Some crimes? It seems like ONLY God could forgive them. But in Michelle Jones' case, personally, I can see how she came to be where she wound up.  

If Harvard were talking about letting her adopt a child, I could see where there might be concerns worth discussing. But I don't see a good reason for refusing to let her attend the college of her choice. 

And, according to this particular article, there's only a bad reason to deviate from normal admission practices. 

A real worry that empathy-less donors will withdraw their money from the school

* * * * *
Okay. Deep Breath.  For the most part I believe in #BanTheBox. 

Until there are life sentences for certain kinds of rape and murder, practically guaranteed for everybody including white men I can only say I'm 95% behind it. 

That is, until justice is handed out a lot more evenly, some seriously dangerous people will be let out of prison due to things like having tons of money, tons of whiteness in a localized area where it's profitable to imprison blacks and browns instead.

However, if I was ever forced into a simple "yes" or "no," I'd have to vote "yes" and be in favor of #BanTheBox. 

I'd have to support #BanTheBox because I truly do believe that the vast(?) majority of ex-convicts would have a better chance of recovering their lives if they didn't have a SCARLET LETTER effectively tattooed on their foreheads.  

And from #BanTheBox it's only a hop, skip, and a jump to ensuring that everybody that's done a crime, done the time and therefore paid their debt to society can vote. 

And that's important because in these-here United States some people pay for tiny crimes forever, are never allowed to fully become citizens again after going to jail for things like being addicted to illegal drugs

...while living in a black skin 

...instead of white skin (as white people tend to simply go to rehab instead of prison)

Read the whole article here and let me know what you think?

https://www.themarshallproject.org/2017/09/13/from-prison-to-ph-d-the-redemption-and-rejection-of-michelle-jones?