U.S. homicide rates have declined by nearly half, but young males still are the highest-risk group and Blacks are more likely to be murdered than are Whites, according to a federal Bureau of Justice Statistics report.
Homicide in the U.S. is at its lowest level since 1963, according to BJS findings based on the FBI’s Supplementary Homicide Report (SHR) data. It has dropped by 49 percent, from 9.3 homicides per 100,000 U.S. residents in 1992 to 4.7 in 2011.
Young Black males remain the highest-risk group. The average murder numbers for males was 3.6 times higher than for females and 6.3 times higher for Blacks than Whites. Young adults ages 18-24 years old have the highest homicide rate of any age group, despite a 22 percent decline in murders from 2002 to 2011, according to the report.
The peak homicide rate for Black males was nine times that of White males, the BJS reported.
SHR reported 6,830 Whites and 7,380 Blacks were murdered in 2011 at a rate of 2.8 for Whites and 17.3 for Blacks per 100,000 U.S. residents.
In 2011, the per-100,000 residents rate was 2.7 for ages 12-17; 11.9 for ages 18-24; 9.2 for ages 25-34; 5.2 for ages 35-49; 2.8 for ages 50-64 and 1.7 for those 65 or older. The median age for being murdered was 30. The homicide rate for Blacks age 60 or older is four times higher than Whites age 60 or older.
In 2011, firearms killed victims in 66 percent of the cases involving single victims and 79 percent of those with multiple victims.
The study dated December 2013 was conducted by Erica L. Smith and Alexia Cooper, Ph.D. and was titled Homicide in the U.S. Known to Law Enforcement, 2011.
SHR compiles homicide reports from local law enforcement that includes details such as victim and suspected offender demographic characteristics, the type of murder weapon and the number of victims.
The report did not separate Hispanics from non-Hispanic Whites.
–By Rahsaan Thomas
Archives for June 2015
Advocates Urge Lighter White-Collar Sentences
After a federal panel eased penalties for non-violent drug offenders, defense attorneys and prisoner advocates began calling for lighter sentences for white-collar crimes, according to an Associated Press report by Eric Tucker.
Some of these crimes focus on fraud, insider trading and embezzlement.
Attorneys and advocates believe that under current sentencing structures people who have the smallest roles still receive harsh sentences.
In 2013, the American Bar Association forwarded a proposal to the sentencing commission asking that federal judges:
Give more weight to a defendant’s culpability and less to financial loss.
Give thought to a defendant’s sophistication, motive and the duration of the scheme.
According to the AP report, the Justice Department welcomed the review. But progress on the issue will be hampered by an American public still outraged by the corporate bigwigs who they say destroyed the economy.
Still the advocates for changes in sentencing guidelines think the time is right. Some federal judges have begun to show leniency in some of these cases. Plus, the Justice Department must lower the cost of an overcrowded federal prison system.
Advocates see this as a window of opportunity to advance their agenda for new sentencing reform.
Hijos de Padres Encarcelados Muestran Problemas de Comportamiento
Un estudio universitario concluye que los hijos de padres encarcelados muestran problemas de comportamiento y salud mental.
“Estos niños están cargados de desventajas,” dijo Kristin Turney, autor del estudio y profesora asistente de sociología en la Universidad Irving de California. “Estos niños no solo están lidiando con el encarcelamiento de sus padres, pero también con problemas de salud mental. Todo esto podría causar que el encontrar empleo sea un reto mas difícil o sean esforzados a madurar mas rápido que sus compañeros.”
El estudio fue presentado en la reunión anual 109 de la Asociación Americana de Sociología. Este estudio fue publicado en la edición de Septiembre de la Revista de Salud y Comportamiento Social.
Tener un padre en la prisión esta “relacionado con los problemas de comportamiento de niños y condiciones tales como trastornos de insuficiencia hiperactiva, problemas de aprendizaje, problemas de habla o lenguaje y retrasos en el desarrollo.
Publicado por la Revisión Sociológica Americana y reportado el 25 de Agosto en el periódico USA Today, la revisión describe como el trauma físico y emocional de estar en la prisión no solo daña al encarcelado, pero también a aquellos que están relacionados con ellos.”
El estudio refleja una foto complicada que indica como las consecuencias del encarcelamiento puede socializar a los hombres a responder rápidamente y con extrema violencia a un conflicto. También aumenta dramáticamente el riesgo de separación y el divorcio en matrimonios o relaciones íntimas causando depresión severa y problemas de salud mental para las mujeres separadas de sus parejas románticas.
Hijos de padres encarcelados experimentan probabilidades menos favorables de educación paternal. Procesos de selección social, tales como raza y clase social, son pronósticos del encarcelamiento en vez de ser un efecto causal, con minorías y hombres con insuficiente educación tienen más probabilidades de ser encarcelados según al estudio.
Sin embargo, Glen Elliott, un director medico y presidente de psiquiatría en la Children’s Health Council, estuvo en desacuerdo con las conclusiones. Él declaro que enfermedades tales como ADHD son generalmente condiciones hereditarias de comportamiento. “No puedes suponer que estas son relaciones casuales,” Elliot comento.
Susan Brown, una profesora de sociología de la Universidad Estatal de Bowling Green, hizo notar que el estudio ofrece, “evidencia indiscutible.” Brown dijo, “pienso que este estudio crea un gran numero de temas importantes.”
El estudio concluyo que el encarcelamiento representa una barrera significante para la participación de los padres en la educación de sus hijos después de ser puestos en libertad, y que el contacto con algún miembro de la familia es vital para detener la reincidencia. El estudio dice que un aumento en las oportunidades de visita, y el reducir barreras, tales como tener acceso a una transportación de precio económico a la prisión, puede beneficiar a padres y sus familiares.
-traducción por Miguel Quezada
Study Shows Incarceration and Death Add to 1.5 Million ‘Missing’ Black Men
Mass incarceration and early deaths contribute to 1.5 million missing Black men in the United States, according to a study done by The New York Times.
The Times reported, “For every 100 Black women not in jail, there are only 83 Black men. The remaining men – 1.5 million of them – are, in a sense, missing…This gap – driven mostly by incarceration and early deaths – barely exists among whites.”
The study compared the ratio of 17 missing Black men for every 100 Black women to Whites where there is “one missing White man for every 100 White women.”
Of the U.S. cities with large populations of Blacks, the one with the biggest gender gap is Ferguson, Mo., with 40 Black men missing for every 100 Black women, reported The Times.
BLACK MEN
According to the study, Black men face a greater chance of dying young and are more likely to be incarcerated.
“It is a measure of the deep disparities that continue to afflict Black men — disparities being debated after a recent spate of killings by the police,” The Times reported. “Perhaps the starkest description of the situation is this: More than one out of every six Black men who today should be between 25 and 54 years old have disappeared from daily life.”
GENDER GAP
The report found the largest group of missing men can generally be found in the South. The gender gap in the West, however, tended to be smaller.
“Of the 1.5 million missing Black men from 25 to 54 — which demographers call the prime-age years — higher imprisonment rates account for almost 600,000.” The Times reported. “Almost 1 in 12 black men in this age group are behind bars, compared with 1 in 60 non-Black men in the age group.”
Homicide, according to the study, is the leading cause of death for young Black men. It is a large factor in the gender discrepancy. Blacks also die more often from heart disease, respiratory disease and accidents than other demographic groups. This includes Black women.
MURDER AND HIV
Although murder and HIV rates for Black men have been falling, according to the study, the rate of incarceration for them has been on the rise since the 1980s.
“In many communities, rising numbers of Black men spared an early death have been offset by rising numbers behind bars” The Times reported.
The 17 missing men for every 100 women gap in gender between Black males and females is non-existent in childhood, the report said. However, “An imbalance begins to appear among teenagers, continues to widen through the 20s and peaks in the 30s.”
This, according to the report, leaves many Black women hard-pressed to find a potential partner of the same race, while the remaining (83) Black men, who face an abundant supply of potential mates, have no incentive to compete to find one.
“In those states hit hardest by the high incarceration rates, African American women have become more likely to work and more likely to pursue their education further than they are elsewhere,” the report concluded.
The Impressive Growth of San Quentin News
If you are ever lucky enough to land in San Quentin Prison, walk down the hill to the Lower Yard. Check out the tennis and basketball courts, the baseball field and the drop-dead view of Mt. Tam. Then make your way through the crowd of inmates to the office of the San Quentin News (S.Q. News), one of the few print newspapers in America that is actually flourishing.
Of course it helps that the paper’s main target audience – prison inmates – has no access to the Internet, which is where a lot of newspaper readers outside of prison have taken their business. But even taking that into account, the growth of the paper to its current level of excellence is amazing. The man who planted the seed, former warden Bob Ayers, is himself amazed. “I hoped it would be good, but I never thought it would be this good,” he said on a recent visit to the prison.
San Quentin journalism has quite a history. In the 1920s and 30s there was a paper named Wall City News that claimed to be “The Only Newspaper in the World Published Within The Walls of a Prison.” That paper ceased publication, replaced in December 1940 by the San Quentin News. The father of the News was Clinton Duffy, the famously progressive warden of San Quentin. He wanted the paper to supplant the inmate grapevine and be a more reliable source of prison information.
1930 Wall City News
The S.Q. News had its ups and downs thereafter. A high point came during the 1980s when there were scores of prison newspapers in the U.S. and in one competition the News was judged the best prison newspaper in the country. That was the Golden Age of prison journalism when a succession of court decisions held that prisoner First Amendment rights could be abridged only in pursuit of “legitimate penological interests.” Wardens couldn’t edit stories just to eliminate offensive opinions. But they could deal with publications that bugged them by claiming that prison security was at risk. And so one after another prison newspaper vanished, including the S.Q. News.
Bob Ayers saw things differently. To revive the News in the spring of 2008 he tapped three former newspaper reporters and editors: John Eagan, Joan Lisetor and myself, to be joined later by Linda Xiques. The startup paper had a staff of about four inmates, none of whom had a clue as to how to put a newspaper together, so the paper was largely created by the advisers. But inmate staff members were impressively quick learners and by now have taken ownership of the paper’s production. These days suggestions by advisers are sometimes followed and sometimes politely ignored.
The staff has grown to about 15 inmates plus a farm team of some 20 inmates who meet weekly at the Journalism Guild to learn writing skills, contribute articles and who often move up to slots on the staff.
What started more than 75 years ago as an inside report on prison doings has grown substantially in size and scope of coverage. Articles still focus on San Quentin but there is also coverage of events and issues throughout the country. The monthly issues have gone from 8 pages to 20 (sometimes 24) and the number of copies printed from 5,000 to 13,000. Seven years ago the paper was mainly seen within San Quentin; today it goes to another 20 of California’s 34 adult prisons and to a large number of donors, officials and interested parties involved in the criminal justice system. Plus there is a website that features current and past issues.
The presence of donors is significant. All prison newspapers were once supported by their prison systems. That was the case at San Quentin until early 2010 when the state closed the prison print shop. The paper teetered on the edge of oblivion until its then Editor-in-Chief, Michael (Harry O.) Harris, offered to pay for the paper’s printing at Marin Sun Printing, a newspaper plant I used to own. That kept the paper going until Harris was paroled in October 2011. Then I started a non-profit, the Prison Media Project, got a startup grant from the Marin Community Foundation and ever since we have been privately financed, mostly from foundations. The prison system provides office space, computers and office supplies.
The S.Q. News is one of the very few inmate-produced papers in existence, certainly in the U.S. There are prison newspapers in Texas and Minnesota, but they are produced by prison system headquarters with inmate participation. That’s a big difference from the inmate-directed S.Q. News. The Angolite in Louisiana, a justly famous magazine published six times a year, is probably the only other strong inmate voice in the country.
San Quentin inmates are smart enough to avoid coverage that would infuriate the prison administration and get the paper shut down again. In turn the authorities, notably Public Information Officer Lt. Sam Robinson, oversee the paper with a very light hand. Coverage of criminal justice news is sometimes supportive and positive, sometimes quite critical.
The S.Q. News has received increasing notice and praise from outside. The Society of Professional Journalists conferred a James Madison Award in 2014 and there have been laudatory articles in The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Sacramento Bee and The Nation magazine. Most recently a team of 11 from CNN spent a week at San Quentin filming for a segment of a new documentary series, “United Shades of America,” due to show early in 2016. Don’t miss it.
https://sanquentinnews.com/the-100th-edition-san-quentin-news/
Obamacare Makes Pell Grants Accessible for Youth Offenders
Access to higher education for juvenile offenders during incarceration is more possible because the Obama administration has ruled that these youth are now eligible to apply for Pell Grants.
“(With access) to Pell Grants no longer an impediment, it puts pressure on youth correctional agencies and the school districts that run (teaching programs) inside of correctional facilities to rethink what they do,” said David Domenici, a corporate lawyer turned educator. He co-founded Maya Angelou Public Charter Schools in 1997. The schools target at-risk teens in the Washington, D.C., area.
Domenici was quoted in a Dec. 29 article written by Katti Gray, contributing editor of The Crime Report.
Pell Grants were once readily available to incarcerated men and women, but 20 years ago legislation was passed blocking inmates from access to the grants. The grants were named after former Rhode Island Sen. Claiborne Pell, with the intent to serve under-privileged people who sought higher education.
One of the possibilities afforded to these at-risk youths is their access to online college courses. Domenici pointed out that youth, who are at-risk for crime and have lower skill sets, do better with online courses, when access to a tutor is unavailable.
Other options include having local college professors come inside institutions to teach and tutor qualified students.
Of the 2,500 juvenile-only jails and prisons there are approximately 60,000 juveniles, with about 4,000 eligible for Pell Grants.
Very few juvenile offenders ever go on to get a college degree, said Domenici. For those who qualify, having access to financial aid that they do not have to pay back matters a great deal. The U.S. government is acknowledging the need for these youths to have an opportunity for higher education, thus exponentially changing the course of their lives.
|“You should not have a large attendance problem. You often have small classes”|
Juvenile justice facilities across the country are largely tough on the children as well as the adults who work in that environment. Therefore, trying to get quality education and instruction is an arduous undertaking, Domenici said.
In many states, juvenile institutions are an extension of the adult correctional system, and education takes a back seat to other institutional concerns, such as custody and security issues, he added.
However The Division of Juvenile Justice in California has accredited schools in each of its youth facilities, with a major emphasis placed on education, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation press office.
“The good news is if you get it going right, it is amazing for kids and for adults who are involved with this. You have these kids captive. You should not have a large attendance problem. You often have small classes,” Domenici said.
Though classes are smaller, having quality instruction as well as a host of administrators on board pushing higher education gives these young people a good chance to turn their lives around. They need to know that the adults charged with authority over them really believe that their lives are relevant, he commented.
For most of these children, having positive role models and peers to encourage the need for higher education was absent. Living in communities where criminal activity is lauded far more often than academic success does not leave kids with much incentive to excel in school, Domenici commented.
These kids need access to really good instruction as well as being surrounded by adults who really care. This will allow the platform for a more profound engagement of academic success, he noted. The kids will need much more triage, as they are ushered toward academic transformation, leading them to more opportunities and choices other than those associated with criminal activity.
Kid CAT’s ‘State of Youth’ Measures Progress
Six months into the year, Kid CAT has made significant progress in accomplishing its goals and activities.
The changes stem from exceptional work by San Quentin prisoners and volunteers.
Early in 2015 children’s rights is making progress with two new bills, Senate Bills 261 and 382.
SB 261 would expand SB 260 to affect thousands of California inmates who were under the age of 23 when they committed their crimes. It would allow them expanded access to parole hearings.
SB 382 would make it more difficult for children to be prosecuted, sentenced in adult courts and be sent to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
If passed, the bills will bring unprecedented reform to juvenile sentencing laws affecting thousands currently serving life sentences and will help juveniles that commit crimes to be committed to the Department of Juvenile Justice rather than adult prisons.
This Year’s Progress:
April: Photojournalist Richard Ross, author of Girls In Justice and Juvenile In Justice, interviewed Kid CAT members to highlight the men that are affected by laws that today are challenged. By revealing our stories of crime and transformation, we seek to place a face on the long-term impact of juvenile justice policy.
May: At the annual Kid CAT banquet, keynote speaker Alison Parker shared her commitment for the same goals that Kid CAT has in reforming children’s rights in the criminal justice system. Her commitment to the human rights reinforced the groups’ urgency to do the work we do on the inside and keeps us motivated to be the example of the people that they support. She is director of Human Rights Watch U.S. Program
The Beat Within and Kid CAT collaboration is growing and making a difference with each workshop.
Inspired by Kid CAT’s writings, a group of juvenile lifers at Chuckawalla State Prison formed their own writing group to share their stories to The Beat Within.
In Alameda Juvenile Hall, a staff member placed The Beat Within and Kid CAT stories on the wall of a maximum-security unit because of the difference the pieces made in the lives of the incarcerated children.
The group continues working toward making October Youth Justice Awareness Month in California. If celebrated throughout schools, communities and by public officials, the event is aimed at raising awareness and affect change by making youth justice a shared responsibility in society.
The Kid CAT “Bay Area Hygiene Drive for Homeless Youth” is scheduled for the fall. In April, a Soledad State Prison inmate wrote to Kid CAT, saying he was inspired to begin organizing a hygiene drive at his institution. Kid CAT’s goal for this year is to increase inmate donations and, through our example, inspire universities and the community to form their own drives.
Kid CAT Speaks understands that when it comes to juvenile lifers primarily the focus is on male offenders, not young women. This does not accurately reflect the issue; therefore, Kid CAT Speaks will strive to report on issues that affect women juvenile lifers, seek ways to publish their stories and include them in the dialogue and effort for change.
Changing Times:
Citizens and lawmakers put in a lot of effort into laws addressing children’s rights. Sometimes, it takes several years and even decades for these reforms to take place.
In the past year, a shift has taken place in the public dialogue concerning children’s rights beyond the usual pass or fail of legislation.
Initially the dialogue about children’s rights concerned studies revealing that the adolescent brain is not fully developed until the age of 25. Now the movement to reform children’s sentencing laws is not simply a matter of science but of a growing moral consciousness that stands to rupture the status quo of criminal justice policy and will transform public safety policy for the next several decades.
What the shift means in the moral compass of this state remains to be seen.
California is in the unique position to be the nation’s most progressive state in how it treats the future generations of youth and establishes precedents for other states.
Legislation that has been passed recognizes that young offenders have no place in the adult criminal justice or correctional systems.
SB 9 limited the practice of sentencing minors to serve Life Without Parole in adult prisons. The law providing inmates serving LWOP the recourse to have their prison terms reviewed after serving 25 years.
AB 1276 established a classification system in the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation that prevents offenders under the age of 22 from being housed with adult inmates on level four maximum-security yards. The law acknowledges that the prison yards were too dangerous for the young inmates and facilities lacked the appropriate programs necessary for their rehabilitation.
Kid CAT continues to expand in its mission and vision and to create awareness.
Legislature Looks Toward Juvenile Evaluations Again
California legislators are seeking to instate a process that would require courts to evaluate a juvenile offender before finding him or her eligible to be charged as an adult.
“The court shall cause the probation officer to investigate and submit a report on the behavioral patterns and social history of the minor being considered for a determination of unfitness,” states Fitness Hearings for Juvenile Offenders (SB 382).
Currently, minors as young as 14 may be charged as an adult in California.
“Since 2003, nearly 10,000 California youth under the age of 18 have been tried as adults in criminal courts and denied the services and treatment provided in the juvenile system,” noted the Human Rights Watch, which added, “While juvenile court is focused on what works for young people and is intent on rehabilitation, the primary purpose of the adult criminal justice system is to punish.”
“Juvenile court both holds young people accountable for their actions and requires participation in education, treatment, and other age-appropriate services,” states Human Rights Watch in a letter it urges supporters to send to their legislators.
According to the Federal Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, substantially higher recidivism rates exist among youths who had been transferred to adult criminal courts, compared with those who were retained in the juvenile system.
“In a string of recent US Supreme Court cases, Roper v. Simmons, Graham v. Florida, and Miller v. Alabama, the nation’s highest court recognized that differences between youth and adults render suspect any conclusion that a youth falls among the worst offenders.
|“10,000 California youth under the age of 18 have been tried as adults in criminal courts”|
The fact that teens are still developing neurologically and emotionally means that they are especially capable of personal growth. These are important factors that should be weighed in the context of deciding whether a youth should be tried as an adult,” the Human Rights Watch stated.
The criteria set forth to determine whether a juvenile is fit to be adjudicated in adult court will include:
1) The degree of criminal sophistication exhibited by the minor
2) The individual’s age, maturity, intellectual capacity, and physical, mental and emotional health at the time of the alleged offense, the minor’s susceptibility of being influenced by peer pressure, as well as the minor’s family and community environment, and the effect of childhood trauma on the minor’s criminal sophistication
3) Whether the minor can be rehabilitated prior to the expiration of the juvenile court’s jurisdiction when the minor reaches the age of 25.
4) Previous criminal history
5) Success of previous attempts by the juvenile court to rehabilitate the minor
6) The circumstances and gravity of the offense alleged in the petition to have been committed by the minor.
SB 261 Would Change Lives Of Thousands of Youth Offenders
Senator Loni Hancock’s Senate Bill 261 will change the lives of thousands of men like me who committed crimes as confused youth but who have grown and matured into responsible men and potential role models.
When I decided to write a plea for strong support of Hancock’s bill, I planned to say that by paroling x number of former youth offenders, California would save 60,000 times x tax dollars. I thought by pointing out what it meant for your pocketbook, you’d be more likely to write your local representative in support of SB 261. Then, I realized the absurdity of asking you to have faith in youth offenders’ tremendous potential to change while writing a piece that shows no faith in you.
INCARCERATION COST
So I’m asking you to write the governor, your assemblyperson and your senator not about fiscal budgetary costs, but about incarceration’s cost to our society. I want you to stand because the U.S. comprises 5 percent of the world’s population, but holds 25 percent of the world’s incarcerated population. Stand because something is wrong with criminal justice in America, and SB 261 moves us in a better direction. It acknowledges that rehabilitation can work, that when a trained parole board determines rehabilitation has taken place, there ought to be laws that integrate the rehabilitated back into society where they can contribute solutions to social problems, such as urban violence, that affect everyone.
SOLUTIONS
And we do want to contribute solutions to social problems. I wish you could sit in a room with Kid CAT members. You would find incarcerated men who are deeply aware of the ways their crimes hurt their communities. One common bond among us is the weight of knowing that when we were children, we perpetuated destructive cycles that still destroy lives today. Another bond, our strongest, is our need to help stop these cycles. We watch news on TV; we see the children our nation loses to urban violence, and our hearts are screaming for a chance to return to the community and save them.
And we can save them. In a talk given at San Quentin State Prison, author Bryan Stevenson spoke about proximity, how engaging social problems personally, i.e. involving oneself with the issues, holds tremendous power to transform this world. There is no demographic more proximate to the ills destroying the youth in our communities than youth offenders who have rehabilitated themselves.
SB 261
SB 261 requires young adults to be accountable for criminal actions, while recognizing their special capacity to learn and grow from their mistakes. SB 261 mandates that a young person who was under the age of 23 at the time of his or her crime and who was sentenced to extreme terms, like 67 years to life, instead serve a minimum of 15, 20, or 25 years in prison (depending on the seriousness of the crime) — whereupon they become eligible to plead their case to the parole board. The bill will not release criminals. It will release men who have become the change their communities hope to see. Rehabilitated youth offenders can show troubled youth the kind of men they must learn to be if destructive, urban cycles are to end. We are uniquely qualified to teach at-risk youth what nobody taught us when we were confused and at-risk ourselves. I hope you write your local representatives in support of SB 261, so we will have the chance to serve the communities that we helped ruin.
Kid CAT Expresses Healing for Victims, Protection of Children at Annual Banquet
An audience including inmates, prison staff and community members listened to more than a dozen incarcerated young men share their stories about what it takes to bring healing to crime victims, while protecting children’s rights.
The youngsters, Kid CAT members, told the crowd of more than 300 that accountability is paramount to moving forward in juvenile justice.
Their stories included ones about living with traumatized parents who fled Vietnam and Cambodia in the early ‘80s and how seeing dead bodies in a gang-infested neighborhood desensitized them to violence.
Each story concluded with the prisoners telling the audience about the murders they committed as a young man.
Kid CAT members are taught a curriculum through The First Step that includes lessons on masculinity, self-identity, feelings and emotions, communications, environmental influences, consequences, empathy and compassion, and forgiveness.
Twice a month Kid CAT holds the Juvenile Lifer Support Group. It is a space where men can have a safe place to share their experiences of maturing in prison.
The group holds an annual hygiene drive for Bay Area homeless children.
“The group started because of a need to have a community that can relate to each other on a truly personal level,” the Kid CAT brochure reads.
Kid CAT supports the annual Global Youth Peace Summit created for youth around the world (aged 14-18) for a week-long experience devoted to person growth, healing, cultural exchange, leadership development and community building.
A local publication, The Beat Within, holds monthly writing workshops with members of Kid CAT so that incarcerated children have the opportunity to exchange thoughts with older offenders who more than likely had similar life experiences.
“What drove me in the beginning was that as a society we were throwing kids away,” said keynote speaker, Alison Parker. “I understand how the law works,” Parker said, “But, kids are being tried as adults.
“Human beings who are able to see each other are not able to distance each other,” Parker said. “I wish we could make these connections before our communities get separated.”
One of the original founders of Kid CAT in 2010, Garry “Malachi” Scott, was invited to address the crowd.
Scott has since paroled and is now a member of a council that addresses public safety in Oakland.
Opening with a joke, Scott said, “Yes, I’ve gained weight. Food is really good!
“Kid CAT helped me,” he continued. “Before, I lacked leadership and charisma. Now I know how we impact policy and changes. Things are happening in California, and I’m excited. You have reasons to be hopeful.”
Scott talked about how Restorative Justice impacted his life.
“There will be a time that you’ll have to use those tools that you’ve learned,” Scott said. “I woke up at 3 a.m. to multiple gunshots. I thought someone from my past was after me. Someone was murdered right in front of my house.”
Scott said that the incident affected him more than he thought. He no longer saw the streets as a safe place. However, he said that after doing a libation in honor of the murdered person’s life, he was able to process the incident and move on with this life.
“It all came from the tools that I’ve learned in here,” Scott said. “It was done because of all the people I’ve met. There’s so much value in your life. To Kid CAT members, the youth out there need us. Kid CAT needs to start receiving youth in here to help them. They need people who care about them.”
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