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Want to really know about restoration of the voting
rights that have taken from incarcerated? All of our forum panelists, are well versed in the subject and all, have had first hand experience being
among the incarcerated- Names and bios below.
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It’s about democracy!
That's why Citizens Defending Libraries is participating in bringing
you this forum. It is doing so with the Weaving Social Justice
Committee of the First Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Brooklyn
(in conjunction with which we have brought you other forums about, voting rights and disenfranchisement, privatization of public assets, and where we get our news and information),
and working with New York for Full Restoration of Voting Rights
Coalition who is providing the panelists and moderator for this event.
All of the panelists have experienced incarceration.
Here is the information:
* * * *
Virtual Forum – Wednesday, May 25, 2022 – 7:00 PM (on Zoom)
Real Universal Suffrage – Voting Rights for the Incarcerated and Formerly Incarcerated
Presented
by the Weaving Social Justice Committee of the First Unitarian
Universalist Congregation of Brooklyn in Conjunction with New York for
Full Restoration of Voting Rights Coalition.
Zoom Meeting Information: To attend the meeting live and perhaps partipate in a Q&A, please email Michael D. D. White at MDDWhite [@] aol.com for a link. Pleas put in you email: xRequestForumLinkx.
In addition, afterwards, we expect to update this post to include a link recording on of the forum.
(This is a redo of this forum. We halted our first attempt at this forum when it was Zoom bombed.)
In
the 1800s, prior to the emancipation of enslaved people, New York State
changed its laws to take away the voting rights of those it
incarcerated.
Incarceration has traditionally been used in the US
as a means of removing voting rights from a substantial number of
American citizens – particularly Black, Latinix and Indigenous people.
And with the current state of mass incarceration this disenfranchisement
has profound and unconscionable effects of democracy. What can be done
to restore voting rights and create greater equity?
In New York
State: What are the current rules for people on parole or released?
What are the rules now for people currently in prison? What changes do
we want to see? How can this be accomplished? Who is working for change –
and how? How can you become involved?
Join us on
Wednesday, March 2nd
when we will hear from New York for Full Restoration of Voting Rights
Coalition -and from the personal experience of those involved in the
struggle.
For the Zoom link please contact rpearl112@gmail.com
“The
power to vote is critical for all citizens, but particularly those who
are formerly or currently incarcerated, as it: 1) enables participation
in our democracy, 2) allows them to stay integrated into society and, 3)
reduces recidivism rates. Felony disenfranchisement has been included
in New York State law ever since the 1821 NYS Constitution. Two hundred
years of this racist law is enough!” (quote from the AFJ-NY website)
Moderator:
Aqirah Stanley,
Deputy Director of Alliance of Families for Justice- Aqirah Stanley,
has been an active member of Alliance of Families for Justice since
January 2018. She started out as AFJ’s first Shirley Chisholm Fellow,
and then became AFJ's Project Manager before stepping into the role as
Deputy Director. As a directly impacted person, Aqirah fully understands
the trauma and challenges of incarceration on families and children and
wholeheartedly supports the use of collective action as a driving force
of change, healing, and empowerment. Aqirah has been a passionate
visionary and an asset to AFJ since day one, and looks forward to
continuing to create opportunities for AFJ to unite and empower
directly-impacted families and friends, as well as allies and
volunteers.
Panelists (
All of the panelists,
knowledgeable about the subject of voting rights for the incarcerated,
have had the first hand experience of being one of the incarcerated):
Victor Pate,
New York Campaign For Alternatives To Isolated Confinement Statewide
Campaign Organizer - Victor Pate brings years of organizing experience
into his role as a NY statewide organizer and a formerly incarcerated
individual. He is a founding member and chairman of the National Action
Network NYC Chapter Second Chance Committee, and an active coalition
member of several criminal justice, prisoner advocacy and legislative
reform organizations. He has and is overcoming the many barriers
and hurdles systemically in place that prevent people with current and
previous criminal justice involvement from fully and completely
reintegrating into society.
Angel Solis,
is the Project Coordinator for the Youth Empowerment Project at the
Alliance of Families for Justice. The Youth Empowerment Project is a
youth community leadership training program. Mr. Solis was born and
raised in the Bronx and was previously incarcerated for a total of ten
years. While in prison, Mr. Solis was fortuitously placed in a prison
with a college program and took advantage of a free education. In 2016,
Mr. Solis, desirous of a college degree, was released from prison and
was accepted at Columbia University. He graduated in 2021 with a B.A. in
Sociology. Mr. Solis is a firm believer in the revolutionary power of
education and truth and it is because of this belief that he has
committed his life to its proliferation
Uwimana Aisha Radellant,
Currently, attending John Jay College of Criminal Justice, a full-time
student in the Public Administration in Public Policy, Master’s Program
specializing in Criminal Justice Reform. Began a second specialization
in Management and Operations in the fall of 2021, to be completed
December of 2022. David Rockefeller Fund Fellow. Won the Victor Hassine
Memorial Award. Mentor at the Institute for Justice and Opportunity,
formerly known as the Prison Reentry Institute, and Mentor for both the
Justice Institute and College and Community Fellowship. Former
participant of the College and Community Fellowship WISH Policy Program.
A survivor of the American criminal injustice system. “My traumatic
first-hand interactions with the misrepresentation cloaked in the
falsehood of American justice infuriated me into action. I felt I had no
choice but to dedicate my life’s work to addressing this shameless,
unrelenting system of inequality systematically designed to forever
suppress and subjugate all people of color. My personal experience of
`innocent until proven guilty’ proved this phrase is simply that,
nothing but hollow words that only applies to the wealthy.
Elder Louis D. Rodriguez, MPS,
A native Brooklynite who served 26 years of a 20 years to life
sentence. Past Lead Mentor, Edenwald Arches, FEDCAP Rehabilitation
Services, Past vice president of Jefferson & Sons LLC, a real estate
management firm, Ruling Elder & Clerk of Session, The Church of
Gethsemane, (PCUSA), General Board, New York City Presbytery, Co-Chair,
Self-Development of People (SDOP) committee, New York City Presbytery,
Lifetime Member, Uptown Democratic Party, New York City Election Poll
Worker, New York County Board of Elections
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