Black Parole Boards
Prisoners Demand Community Parole Boards & Reparations by Prince Imari A.
Obadele & Brother Michael Malcolm 2X Sheffield, CO-Chair
A.M. 31 Chapter of NCOBRA has formalized plans to establish Black Community
Parole Boards to be the parole decision-makers in cases of Blacks being
held prisoner in U.S. jails and prisons. (Our chapter is at Huntsville,
Texas.)
"The current parole board system throughout this country, and particularly
here in Texas, is too vicious and racist and utterly incapable of rendering
a fair decision in cases of Blacks, Browns, and poor whites," stated
Prince Imari A. Obadele, CO-Chair of A.M. 31.
A.M. 31 says that since Black people are directly affected by parole board
decisions, in terms of Blacks coming and/or not coming back to Black communities,
the Blacks of the communities who which one may be coming, or may have come
from, should be the ones who make the decision as to whom, what, where,
when, and how.
"Black people face a triple threat as it concerns the so-called criminal
justice (meaning Just Us) system. On the one hand, you have this predatory
species of Blacks imitating white folks' death-styles and preying on the
Black communities. Secondly, you have the economic base-as sorry as it is-being
stripped from under Black communities by folks that don't live in, or give
a damn about, the community. Thirdly, you have a situation where-in a male-dominated
society-Black men, who are supposed to be the progenitors, producers and
protectors of the race, are systematically removed from the Black community
and stashed away in these death-camps."
Michael Malcolm 2X Sheffield, CO-Chair of A.M. 31, says that Black Community
Parole Boards are one of the many steps that must be taken to counteract
one of the components of the MAAFA (The CONTINUING Black Holocausts). Says
he, "If you look at the big picture, it is not hard to see that the
criminal justice system is just one of the many "Big Guns" the
U.S. uses against a people-us-that they don't need, nor want, but have to
keep in check. The current parole board system can be likened to the firing
pin in the big gun. Black people can take the firing pin out of this gun!"
A.M. 31's primary focus is helping to secure reparations for Black people
for the crimes of slavery, genocide, menticide, colonialism and exploitation
of Blacks by the U.S. As Chapter of NCOBRA we place a special concern on
the "repairing" of Blacks being held as prisoners.
Reparations means repair. Therefore, the demand for repair by Black people
encompasses all areas of people activity, most of which money alone can't
fix," says Prince Imari. Malcolm 2X added, "If you take this line
of reasoning a little further, it means that Black people have to do the
repairing Ourselves. For Ourselves.
"Our demand for Black Community Parole Review Boards would give the
Black community control over a major dynamic affecting their lives, thus
leading to a "repair" in the community."
"One must understand," said Prince Imari, "that these white
racist, thoroughly corrupt and morally bankrupt parole boards sit in re-judgment
not only over the Black prisoner, but over the Black community as a whole.
They, in effect, hold the entire Black community hostage and stereotyped.
Tell me how in the world can Black men between the ages of 18 and 55, who
make up less than 3% of the U.S. population, end up being 57% of the prison
population? We're obviously not genetically deficient as the National Institute
of Mental Health would have one believe, so obviously something else is
wrong. Part of what's wrong is the current parole system.
"Black people have to decide whether they want to continue to be held
hostage to the whim, caprice and politics of a bunch of dumb racists; we
have to decide whether we want our tax money continuously going to build
more prisons so whites can have jobs at the expense of our neighborhoods
and schools, or whether we want our tax money to go towards redevelopment
of our own communities.
It costs approximately $25,000 per year to warehouse a prisoner. With $25,000
you could pay someone a year's salary, or furnish the materials and fix
up three houses in the Fifth Ward of Houston, Texas.
The question then becomes, "Do you want a Black prisoner locked down
for five years for some petty crime-that's a minimum of $125,000-or would
you rather have $100,000 of that money and that person on the street doing
some work for the community?
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that these folks don't
and never have had Black people's interests at heart. We must look after
our own best interests. Black Community Parole Boards would be a significant
step in the right direction.
Amistad-March 31 Chapter National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in
America (N'COBRA) P.O. Box 75437, Baton Rouge
, LA 70874