IM: WHUSDJ
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Tidal Lock
Well hello there!
This week on The Politics of Singing, we’re talking about the prison industrial complex. I plan on covering a lot on the air, so here are a few links to some important information that I might not get to during the show.
Mumia Abu-Jamal tells us what the prison industrial complex is.
Angela Davis tells us her thoughts on the prison industrial complex.
A very informative video put together by some college students for a class project (recommended for people who are totally clueless as to what the prison industrial complex is).
These are some well-researched statistics on the subject.
Eric Schlosser wrote this great article on the subject back in 1998.
This is the most recent article that I’ve found on the subject, a fantastic 3-part series that ran on urban politico a few months ago.
Too lazy to check any of that stuff out? Then watch this short video, only 2 minutes long, and you’ll still learn something.
And, for those who are really into this stuff, links to a multitude of reports on ways in which reducing the prison population would benefit our suffering economy.
And here are the lyrics to “Prison Song” by the band System of a Down:
They're trying to build a prison,
They're trying to build a prison,
Following the rights movements
You clamped on with your iron fists,
Drugs became conveniently
Available for all the kids,
Following the rights movements
You clamped on with your iron fists,
Drugs became conveniently
Available for all the kids,
I buy my crack, my smack, my bitch,
Right here in Hollywood,
Nearly 2 million Americans are incarcerated
In the prison system, prison system,
Prison system of the U.S.
They're trying to build a prison,
They're trying to build a prison,
They're trying to build a prison, (for you and me to live in)
Another prison system,
Another prison system,
Another prison system. (for you and me to live in)
Minor drug offenders fill your prisons
You don't even flinch
All our taxes paying for your wars
Against the new non-rich,
Minor drug offenders fill your prisons
You don't even flinch
All our taxes paying for your wars
Against the new non-rich,
The percentage of Americans in the prison system
Prison system, has doubled since 1985,
Chorus
All research and successful drug policy show
That treatment should be increased,
And law enforcement decreased,
While abolishing mandatory minimum sentences,
All research and successful drug policy show
That treatment should be increased,
And law enforcement decreased,
While abolishing mandatory minimum sentences.
Utilizing drugs to pay for secret wars around the world,
Drugs are now your global policy,
Now you police the globe,
Drug money is used to rig elections,
And train brutal corporate sponsored
Dictators around the world.
Chorus