21st Century Debtors' Prisons
NOVEMBER '18 EVENTS
November 2018Pamela Garlick2019-03-07T03:05:53+00:00
NYC PUBLIC FORUM AND MUSIC BENEFIT
THE STRUGGLE AGAINST RACISM AND ECONOMIC INEQUALITY IN OUR LEGAL SYSTEM. BENEFITTING CIVIL RIGHTS CORPS AND ESSIE JUSTICE GROUP.
WATCH THE FACEBOOK PUBLIC FORUM ON-DEMAND STREAM
Watch the Riverside Forum On Demand
PUBLIC FORUM WRAP-UP
In partnership with the Riverside Church Social Justice Ministry
JusticeAid continued the struggle against economic oppression and mass incarceration on Sunday, November 11, 2018, with a public forum at The Riverside Church, a landmark New York institution on Manhattan's Upper West Side known for its history of activism in civil rights. Jeffery Robinson discussed the true history of the economic oppression of African-Americans from slavery to the present as reflected in his dynamic, multi-media exploration Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism in America.
Next, beneficiaries Alec Karakatsanis of Civil Rights Corps and Gina Clayton of Essie Justice Group engaged in a panel discussion moderated by Johnny Perez, Director of U.S. Prison Program for the National Religious Campaign Against Torture. The panelists further explored Robinson's themes with a focus on the systemic extortion of money from poor people by imprisonment and the dramatic repercussions for those left at home, particularly women.
Youth activist Madison Strempek spoke movingly of incarceration experienced through the lens of a child. Performing artist Abena Koomsom-Davis sang an anthem to Justice and poet and educator Randall Horton recited poetry. Afterward, guests experienced The Cell, a VR (virtual reality) installation set up in the Church.
The forum was free and open to the community and live-streamed through @JusticeAid on Facebook. Relive the event at #JusticeAidForum.
CONCERT WRAP-UP
We were thrilled to return to NYC's City Winery on Tuesday, November 13th, for an epic concert highlighting New Orleans Dr. Michael White and his Original Liberty Jazz Band along with gospel and blues singer Topsy Chapman. Our guests experienced an electric celebration of New Orleans in music, song, and performance—and an inspiring call to action for JusticeAid's beneficiaries Civil Rights Corps, dedicated to correcting systemic injustices in the American legal justice system, and Essie Justice Group, which harnesses the collective power of women with incarcerated loved ones to end mass incarceration's harm to women and communities. One hundred percent of ticket proceeds were donated to our hardworking beneficiaries.
Riverside Forum Gallery
Evy Mages Photography
Concert Benefit Gallery
2018 BENEFICIARIES + HONORARY HOST COMMITTEE
HONORARY HOST COMMITTEE
FORUM HOST COMMITTEE
CONCERT HOST COMMITTEE
Mocafi
Maggievision Productions
Gwen and Gerald Adolph
Rosanne & Stephen Anderson
Ron Goldstock & Judi Friedman
Rebecca & Steve Milliken
Michelle Alexander, Author of The New Jim Crow
Stephen B. Bright, President of the Southern Center for Human Rights
Angela J. Davis, American University Law Professor
Soffiyah Elijah, Executive Director, Alliance of Families for Justice
Joe Henry, Musician/Producer/Poet/Author
Randy Hertz, Vice Dean of NYU Law School and Director of Clinical and Advocacy Programs
Helen Hershkoff, NYU Law Professor and Co-Director of the Arthur Garfield Hays Civil Liberties Program
Rita Houston, WFUV Program Director
Bob Ley, ESPN Host, Outside the Lines
Karl Racine, Attorney General for the District of Columbia
Jon Rapping, Founder, Gideon's Promise
Sree Sreenivasan, Co-Founder Digmentors and former Chief Digital Officer of NYC, the Met and Columbia
Seth Waxman, Partner, WilmerHale and 41st Solicitor General of the United States
Kim Coaxum & Therese Steiner
Jade de Saussure
Henrietta Wigglesworth Dodge
Marion Dry
Keisha Sutton James
Gina Meyerson
Ryan O'Connell
Phil Straus
Helen Torelli
Steve Anderson, Chair
Kim Coaxum
Paul Dalen
Janet Dewar
Judith Friedman
Ron Goldstock
Traug Keller
Natalie Jowett
Mark Rochon
Steve Milliken
Therese Steiner
RIVERSIDE FORUM PROGRAM
GINA CLAYTON, BENEFICIARY-PANELIST
ALEC KARAKATSANIS, BENEFICIARY-PANELIST
A Chronicle of Racism in America
JEFFERY ROBINSON, PANELIST-FEATURED SPEAKER
Jeffery Robinson, Deputy Legal Director and Director of the Trone Center for Justice and Equality American Civil Liberties Union, has three decades of experience working on criminal and racial justice and reform issues: as a public defender, attorney in private practice, educator, and civil rights activist. Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism in America brings to light little-known facts of the history of America's practice of white supremacy related to African Americans and the complexities involved in the role of race and the criminal justice system in this country.
JOHNNY PEREZ, PANELIST
Johnny Perez is the Director of U.S. Prison Program for the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, a membership organization committed to ending U.S.-sponsored torture, and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. He adds value, insight, and leadership to existing campaign efforts working to end the torture of solitary confinement while building the capacity of faith leaders and directly impacted communities to engage in education and advocacy in the United States.
Drawing on the wisdom of thirteen years of direct involvement with the criminal justice system, Johnny also works to change unjust policies and practices in the criminal justice system through his participation as a member of the NYC Bar Association's Correction and Reentry Committee and a member of the NY Advisory Committee to The US Civil Rights Commission . Johnny is also on the board of directors of both Space on Ryder Farm and the Juvenile Law Center.
A sought-after speaker, Johnny has been invited to share his thoughts on criminal justice reform at law schools and institutions of higher learning across the U.S.; including various state, regional, and national conferences on topics including the perpetual consequences of justice involvement, access to higher education, and Solitary Confinement. Johnny's commentary has been published by The New York Times, The Fordham Law Journal, Ebony Magazine, USA Today, and the Daily News.
A recent collaboration with ACLU's Smart Justice Campaign, on the challenges of reentry, yielded into its acceptance into this year's Sundance Film Festival. Johnny has made appearances on Now This, Capital Tonight, and recently the TV Special, Rikers: What's Next, a conversation with acclaimed journalist Bill Moyers about a future NYC without Rikers Island jail. Johnny is also a father to a teenage girl and a novice violinist. You can connect with Johnny via LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram @mrjohnnyperez.
ABENA KOOMSON-DAVIS, PERFORMING ARTIST
Abena Koomson-Davis is a performer, educator, and wordsmith. She is a graduate of Sarah Lawrence College, where she earned a B.A. in Liberal Arts, and also of Teachers College, Columbia University, where she earned a Masters in Education Leadership. Abena was an original cast member of the hit Broadway musical FELA!, which earned three Tony awards. She originated the role of Funmilayo Anikulapo Kuti in the Off-Broadway production at the Baryshnikov Arts Center. Abena plays in several notable bands, including the cappella trio Saheli, the Cool Rulers, and Van Davis, where she has been the featured vocalist for over a decade and had the honor of performing with Stevie Wonder.
Abena recently became musical director of the Women's March Resistance Revival Chorus and has been featured as part of their monthly Resistance Revival Music Series. She currently serves as Ethics Chair of the middle school division at Ethical Culture Fieldston School, where she teaches ethics and social justice to middle and upper school students. Abena is married to world-renowned jazz trombonist Steve Davis.
Abena's approach to life is polyphonic. Her poem Blacksmith Orchestra is her anthem. JusticeAid is thrilled to welcome Abena at the Public Forum on Racism and the Criminalization of Poverty: 21st Century Debtors' Prisons in the Age of Mass Incarceration, to be held on November 11th at Riverside Church in New York City
See artist page here.
RANDALL HORTON, POET-EDUCATOR
Randall Horton is the author of The Definition of Place (2006) and Lingua Franca of Ninth Street (2009), both from Main Street Rag. His poetry prizes include the Gwendolyn Brooks Poetry Award and the Bea González Prize for Poetry. Horton has an MFA from Chicago State University and a Ph.D. from SUNY Albany. He is a Cave Canem Fellow, a member of the Affrilachian Poets, an NEA Literature Fellowship recipient, and an assistant professor of English at the University of New Haven. He also serves as senior editor for Willow Books and editor-in-chief for Tidal Basin Review.
MADISON STREMPEK, SPEAKER
Madison Strempek is an international keynote speaker and author of "Everyone Makes Mistakes: Living With My Daddy in Jail." She's an accomplished violist and plays in the Baltimore Symphony Youth Orchestra. Madison recently earned her 1st-degree black belt in Tang Soo Do. Now age 13, she is an advocate for children of incarcerated parents.
FORUM VENUE, RIVERSIDE CHURCH
The Riverside Church is an interdenominational, interracial, international, open, welcoming, and affirming church and congregation.
JusticeAid beneficiary-recipients Gina Clayton and Alec Karakatsanis joined moderator Vanita Gupta on April 17, 2018, at WilmerHale in Washington, DC for our first public panel focusing on our 2018 theme, 21st-Century Debtors' Prisons.
MUSIC BENEFIT PERFORMERS
DR. MICHAEL WHITE
The music of Dr. Michael White and his Original Liberty Jazz Band resonates with the history, sound, and feeling of New Orleans jazz.
TOPSY CHAPMAN
Gospel and blues singer Topsy Chapman sang the unforgettable "Roll Jordan Roll" in the Oscar-winning film Twelve Years a Slave.
PAINE THE POET
Paine the Poet, formerly incarcerated artist, uses the gift of poetry to articulate distinctly emotional experiences in the criminal system through crisis intervention and youth mentoring.
The 300th Anniversary of New Orleans is sure amplified JusticeAid's tribute to Billie Holiday: Songs for Lady Day, held on April 24, 2018, at The Hamilton in Washington, DC. The concert celebrated the legendary blues musician's birthday with performances by Paula Cole, Marshall Crenshaw, Dom Flemons, Cécile McLorin Salvant, and Kandace Springs.