Monthly Archives: November 2010
Portraits of a Problem: the Jena 6 and Mass Incarceration
Thanks to their participation in the nationally televised Bayou Classic, Mychal Bell and Robert Bailey Jr. have now been recognized for something unrelated to the Jena 6 phenomenon. When their names were called, it was because they had made a contribution … Continue reading
Former Jena 6 Defendants, Bailey and Smith, play in Bayou Classic
You can find an update on this post here. By Alan Bean When the Grambling Tigers and the Southern Jaguars meet tomorrow in the New Orleans Superdome to play their annual Bayou Classic, two members of the Jena 6 will be on the … Continue reading
Filed under Jena
Challenging the new Jim Crow, part 2
This is the second excerpt from a speech recently delivered at the Campaign to End the Death Penalty conference on the campus of the University of Chicago. The introduction can be found here. AGB The new Jim Crow comes to Tulia, … Continue reading
Goodwyn: The price of speaking out
Wade Goodwyn’s “Reporter’s Notebook” on the NPR site deals with a curious encounter with the black principal of Clarksville High School. I urge you to give Wade’s account your careful attention because it highlights a tension that exists within the African … Continue reading
Filed under New Jim Crow, Race, the politics of race, Uncategorized, war on drugs
Michael Vick dodges the New Jim Crow
Michael Vick’s performance against the Washington Redskins on Monday Night Football may constitute the most impressive single game by a quarterback in the history of the NFL. Nicole Greenfield gives the religious backstory of Vick’s remarkable post-prison turnaround at Religious Dispatches this morning. … Continue reading
Goodwyn: Civil Rights, Judicial Bias Surround Texas Drug Case
Wade Goodwyn does his usual impeccable job of bringing an utterly outrageous story to national awareness. If you follow this blog you are already familiar with the basic outline of this story, but Goodwyn inserts the human element that is typically missed by … Continue reading
Kairos, Narrative, and Transformation
By Mark Osler Last week, I had the opportunity to speak at the Kairos Conference on the death penalty at Emory University. It was organized by People of Faith Against the Death Penalty and Sister Helen Prejean, and featured a … Continue reading
Filed under death penalty, Faith, narrative, Peacemaking
Challenging the New Jim Crow, part 1
By Alan Bean This post is the introduction to a keynote address I delivered at a Campaign to End the Death Penalty conference held recently on the campus of the University of Chicago. Subsequent posts can be found here: Sheriff Larry Stewart … Continue reading
